Pages 59-113 - Glenalmond College

Transcription

Art & Design
Anyone popping their head round the
door into the Art & Design Department
would have been struck by the energy and
purpose of the pupils and staff. Encouraged
to ‘think big’ and ‘outside the box’, this year’s
crop of Fifth and Sixth Formers turned up
with flair and imagination by the bucket load.
Before making the decisions that underpin
the final outcome of their projects, our artists
are always pushed to experiment in the early
stages of a project. This phase of testing the
boundaries often results in an enormous
variety in the work produced. That work has
contributed to some successful university
applications: Yaqi Su gained offers from UCL
59 GLENALMOND COLLEGE CHR ONICLE
and the Architectural Association School of
Architecture (AA) and will complete a foundation year at AA; Holly Nisbet was offered a
place to study Landscape Architecture at the
University of Edinburgh, and Torie Clark will
embark on a fashion course at Polimoda
Fashion School in Florence.
We were fortunate to have Claudia Massie
– a practising landscape painter – once again
lead our life-drawing class. The life-drawing
exhibition held at the Ruthven Gallery was
most successful and stimulating. It provided
an excellent opportunity for our budding
artists to have a taste of life as a professional
practitioner.
Izzy Farquharson
Lower down the school, the Second, Third
and Fourth Forms have also achieved a great
deal, acquiring a wide range of skills and techniques. Their work was displayed collectively in
the textile studio. As ever, we are indebted to
our technician, Mr Dempsey, who put in an
enormous amount of work behind the scenes.
The aim of art is to represent not the outward
appearance of things, but their inward significance. I hope every student who has undertaken this journey with us will benefit from this
inward significance in the years to come!
B Wang
Rosie Roberts
Rosie Roberts
GLENALMOND COLLEGE CHR ONICLE 60
Connie Gillespie
Ivan Craig
Katy Irvine
Tianyi Liang
Melissa Nicol
Freya von Rautenkranz
Victoria Clark
Jack Sommerville
Holly Nisbet
Holly Nisbet
Holly Nisbet
Tessa Maxwell
Rory Prichard
Yaqi Su
Annie Porter
Georgie Scrymgeor-Wedderburn
Academia
The 2014/15 academic year ended with
huge sadness for Glenalmond’s academic
community with the tragic and premature
death of Dr Robin Mundill. Robin was a true
academic. He wrote a number of cited books
on the history of the Jews in Europe, but he
was more than just an outstanding historian,
he was a true, all-round schoolmaster who
believed in educating each pupil in its widest
sense. The loss of such a respected colleague
has made me reflect upon what we as
teachers are trying to achieve, not just here at
Glenalmond, but in the wider context of
preparing the next generation for life.
The General Teaching Council of Scotland
is the overarching authority in Scotland and
there have been some interesting initiatives
coming from this body. Over the past year
they have introduced Professional Update,
which requires all teachers to keep records of
their continuous professional development
and to reflect upon their own teaching.
Whilst it has its challenges, the effect has
been to encourage teachers out of their
comfort zones, and in conjunction with the
Glenalmond Learning Project it has energised our teachers at Glenalmond to become
much more progressive.
The second proposal is that only teachers
who have been on accredited teacher training
courses will be allowed to teach in Scotland. It
is of course essential that we seek to continue
to raise standards and ensure that only highquality people are engaged within the education sector, but it is also important that we
retain our ethos of educating the whole
person, with strong academic results only one
part of what makes a Glenalmond pupil.
Interestingly, I read recently that the ViceChancellor of Warwick University, Nigel
Thrift, believes that A-level grades may not be
enough on their own to ensure success in the
globalised economy. He states that a vast
number of middle to top end professions will
become automated and only those employees
with human skills and interests will flourish.
Robin Mundill, I am sure, would have been
pleased to hear this endorsement of the need
to develop young people beyond the confines
and 11 pupils achieved all A or A* grades. 30
pupils, which is 40% of the year group,
achieved six or more A* or A grades. The
excellent work by our teachers, along with the
efforts shown by our pupils, has led to this
quite remarkable outcome and demonstrates
that Glenalmond is one of the best schools in
Scotland.
Glenalmond is, as we know, an educational
establishment that is not just about the pursuit
of academic results; it also engenders an
atmosphere that encourages the pursuit of
knowledge beyond the curriculum. Over the
past year our pupils have been awarded prizes
in the Robert Louis Stevenson Award, the
Wicked Writers’ Award, the Royal Society of
Chemistry’s Scottish Schools’ Olympiad and
the Gold Crest Awards, and gained medals in
the Mathematics Challenge, Physics Olympiad
and Linguistic Olympiad, along with
producing outstanding Extended Projects.
Robin Mundill was a teacher who contributed
wholeheartedly to allowing all of our pupils to
flourish across all disciplines and his commitment to the all-round education of our pupils
will be sorely missed.
S N Kinge
Deputy Head – Academic
of the curriculum. I hope that the General
Teaching Council of Scotland will listen – the
training teachers receive should encourage a
diversity of thinking and allow the prospective
all-round schoolmaster and schoolmistress to
enter this most rewarding profession.
At Glenalmond, our teaching staff pride
themselves upon worshipping, living, dining
and working with our pupils, and it is this
collective ethos that has again resulted in
outstanding academic results. On an individual level, Issy Arnaud achieved four A*
grades and is moving on to study Classics at
King’s College, Cambridge; three other candidates achieved three A* grades. Our overall
pass rate has improved and it is the second
best result in the past ten years – this is testament to the efforts the teachers and pupils
make to squeeze out the last drop of attainment. The percentage of A* grades has
improved and 10% of our candidates achieved
three A grades or more. Pleasingly, I am able
to report that some of our less academically
able pupils achieved results that have
exceeded their expectations. I wouldn’t be
surprised to see this cohort use the personal
skills honed at Glenalmond to become the
next directors of multinational corporations.
The GCSE results are the second best in
the history of the College with 24% of all
grades A*, and 53% either A or A* grades.
Issy’s brother, Jamie, achieved ten A* grades
Public Examination Results, 2011-15
Examination
Year
Grade %
Pass Rate %
A*
A
B
C
A-level
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
11.2
7.8
12.0
14.6
15.1
20.3
26.0
28.1
23.7
25.0
27.4
33.3
27.7
26.5
21.8
20.3
15.1
17.4
20.9
21.8
98.7
96.9
99.6
98.9
97.6
GCSE
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
24.1
15.3
22.7
22.4
28.4
28.9
25.6
25.2
30.0
31.0
24.9
30.0
28.1
27.9
25.8
13.9
22.6
19.1
15.2
11.5
98.6
100
99.8
99.5
99.7
History of Art
The history of art is the history of any
activity or product made by humans in a visual
form for aesthetic or communicative
purposes, expressing ideas and emotions.
Curious and critical, the subject provides a
great cultural education. It teaches you how to
interpret images and objects of almost every
conceivable kind; it teaches you how to write
critically, and well, about them; it teaches you
how to use photographs and other images to
help interpret artworks; and it shows you how
to do large-scale independent research, a skill
which is essential for further education and
life beyond the classroom.
More and more of our pupils are going to
university to study History of Art each year.
We are responding by increasing time with
different university lecturers and making sure
that pupils embarking on this journey appreciate the importance of knowing the differences between the courses at various places
of study.
Along with university relationships, we
continue our strong links with the National
Gallery of Scotland. It is important that the
pupils get out and see as much art and architecture ‘in the flesh’ as possible, and these
trips are always informative, eye opening and
great fun. At present we are planning a trip to
Florence which will take place next year.
I am constantly impressed by the intellectual development of the History of Art pupils.
They come in to the department, starting a
new subject, and are drawn into a new vocabulary, new ways of thinking and seeing. They
are often surprised at the way the course links
directly with other subjects, from Latin
through to English, History and even Physics!
This academic year saw Glenalmond’s
greatest number of art historians to date. It
was a full and busy department with pupils
making much use of the departmental library,
which houses a lot more books this year
thanks to some very kind donations. It is a
real privilege to teach the art historians at
Coll and I doubt there are any more vocal
lessons in school than when we are debating
the merits (or lack thereof) of concrete
Brutalist architecture!
Mrs Kate Butler
Divinity &
Religious Studies
This year’s Divinity lessons for all pupils
from the Second to Fifth Forms saw the
introduction of visual presentations based on
a topical issue on which pupils were encouraged to reflect and consider how they might
apply religious or ethical values. Topics
included Beauty, Cigarette Packaging,
Equality, Ethics in Sport, Loyalty and Pride.
A-level Religious Studies (Philosophy of
Religion & Ethics) continues to be taught at
both Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth levels.
The Rev’d G W Dove
English as an
Additional
Language
The English as an Additional Language
(EAL) Department has had a very successful
year, with a record number of exam entries
and a 100% pass rate in the Preliminary
English Test (PET), the Cambridge First
Certificate (FCE) and the IGCSE.
With the increasing number of EAL pupils
in the College (an EAL pupil is defined as
one whose first language is not English), it is
inevitable that our workload has increased.
The FCE is proving to be very popular among
our Fifth Form EAL pupils, and we have even
had some Fourth Form candidates. This year
we had a total of 21 candidates entered for
FCE and all successfully achieved passes, with
10 candidates being graded at grade A. The
FCE is recognised as the ‘gold standard’
qualification and is proof of competency in
Upper Intermediate English.
All three candidates in the PET passed and
all but one of our IELTS candidates achieved
the necessary standard for their chosen Higher
Education institution. We had 22 candidates
for the IGCSE of whom six were entered for
the core exam. Happily, all six candidates
achieved a C grade, and at Extended Level we
had two A*s, four As, seven Bs and three Cs.
This was a terrific set of results and the result
of a lot of hard work by the candidates and
their teacher, Mrs Gardner.
Our main role is still to ensure that our EAL
pupils can fulfil their potential in their
academic subjects by offering appropriate
levels of teaching support. Clearly, if a pupil is
having difficulties expressing himself or herself
in English, then this will have a considerable
effect on the ability to write clear and coherent
essays. We have to balance this requirement
with the increasing demand for EAL language
qualifications.
We are always pleased at how well our EAL
pupils settle into life in another country and it
is always gratifying to see how much the pupils
improve their command of English during
their time here, which for many of the short
stay visitors is the main aim.
Well done to Lena Schulte for winning the
EAL prize. She worked very hard during her
time here and made remarkable progress.
J A Gardner
Physics
Our move to the concept-led approach of
the Edexcel specification at A-level has gone
well and as expected it is more suitable for our
candidates. We are being forced by the
Government to change to a non-modular
specification for which there will be no
internal practical assessment. There are 16
practicals which pupils need to do over the
two years, but the skills will be assessed as part
of the written papers and we need to keep
records of their write-ups and analysis of each
activity. The other main difference is that the
final grading will be based on the two years
work, but will be awarded for the papers sat at
the end of the Upper Sixth. We have decided
to remain with Edexcel as we have experience
of their examinations and feel that their new
specification best suits our candidates.
As a means of stretching some of our more
able pupils we have also entered pupils into
external competitions, such as the Physics
Olympiad and various challenge competitions. Our pupils have performed well, with
the best result being a Silver award for
Duncan Wither in the Olympiad, for being
placed between 31st and 300th out of all of
the senior entrants.
We have continued to invite outside
speakers – Andrew Fraser from Ford gave a
superb presentation to a mixed age group on
the work that he has done on the development of the company’s eco-boost engine.
The department has been actively involved
in lending equipment to local primary schools
and in running hands-on experiments with
visiting primary and prep schools. We also
contributed some input to the sessions
entitled ‘Inspiring Innovation’, looking at
flight and rockets.
We offer pupils of all ages help sessions on
Tuesday and Thursday evenings between 5.00
and 6.00pm. In these sessions small problems
and difficulties can be resolved before they
become a major block to understanding.
R Benson
our older pupils and, of course, our teachers.
Following a series of lessons on populations, the Third Form headed off to
Kindrogan Field Centre to put their hardearned ecological skills to the test, looking at
the resident Pine Martens, invertebrates in
the marine environment, and local floral
populations. It was an excellent opportunity
and one that obviously stuck with them, as
they performed particularly well on that
section of their exam.
MedSoc has had another busy year with a
wide range of medical and science-based
discussions, including the latest HIV treatments, developments in Equine IVF, and the
impacts of how we develop drugs and the
time and cost implications for modern
society. Many pupils have based their
Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) on
topics discussed at the society.
Change is afoot as we implement the
entirely new A-level course from September.
The course is more rigorous as a preparation
for university studies, and we are hopeful that
although it is more challenging scientifically
the assessment will be far more suitable,
helping prepare our candidates more fully for
the study of Biology beyond Coll.
A C Hughes
Chemistry
The power of analysis – that’s what
Chemistry gives us. The Mars curiosity rover
has a suite of analytical instruments that can
delve deep into the red planet’s history and
look for signs of life; forensic scientists have
ever more sophisticated techniques at their
disposal in detecting and accumulating
evidence; and the ability to characterise
molecules and proteins is vital in the
search for new medicines and antibiotics.
Analysis has been a focus for Glenalmond
this year, with a team of our chemists –
Tobermory Mackay-Champion, Anne Le Roux
and Duncan Wither – winning the RSC
Scottish Schools’ Analysis competition then
proceeding to compete against the nation’s
best young analysts in the UK finals.
Chemical analysis has also featured prominently in EPQ and cross-curricular study with
the Geography Department on the Costa Rica
expedition. The geo-chemistry of both Scottish
burns and tropical rivers has been under the
spotlight; as I write we are looking to establish
Glenalmond as a school ‘centre of excellence’
for environmental projects and analysis.
It has been an excellent year for Glenalmond
Chemistry – buoyed by competition success,
Duncan and Anne secured a Gold and Silver
medal respectively in the Chemistry Olympiad.
IGCSE results were again very strong and
several of our Upper Sixth leavers went on to
study Science or Chemical Engineering with
two deferred Oxbridge Science and Medicine
places being taken up in the Autumn.
Dr Skentelbery of European Biotech gave a
thought-provoking lecture on how the drug
discovery process is changing. Inspiring
younger chemists featured in the prep schools’
activity week, ‘Inspiring Innovation’. We were
represented at the annual Borders Science
Festival at St Mary’s Melrose with a drop-in
session on flame tests and indicators.
Looking ahead, we are switching to a new Alevel specification as a result of the national
reforms – this will see us wave goodbye to the
challenging, but educational Upper Sixth individual investigation at the end of the year. We
will promote the EPQ as a means to replace
this – the greater flexibility allowed should
ensure an opportunity for students to explore.
T S Wilkinson
Biology
On the second floor of the Science Building
we are an open and friendly group - if you
wander around the department on an average
day, you will find all of our spaces filled with
pupils working independently outside their
lessons and seeking assistance as necessary.
Summer 2014 saw a significant increase in
the percentage of our A2 students gaining A*
and A grades as well as other pupils working
incredibly hard to access a C grade or above.
Success at A-level was reflected in our GCSE
results, with a cohort average of 69% in the
Biology paper (across all of our teaching sets),
which was incredible for our pupils and indicative of the healthy attitude filtering down from
Classics
The world has engaged with various democratic events this academic year, so we in the
Classics Department have looked on and
joined in with interest. As students of classical
Athens, we have compared ancient and
modern techniques for winning votes, and
wondered how our ancient democratic
brothers would have viewed the spectacle;
with bemused fascination, I suspect.
As ever, we work hard to relate our studies
to the world around us: it is by looking at
ourselves through an ancient filter that we
begin to address that most famous of Greek
maxims: “Know Thyself”. We were treated to
a wonderful talk by Dr Michael Scott,
Professor of Ancient History at Warwick
University, in November. A well known figure
on television, most recently in Rome’s
Invisible City and Greece: the Greatest Show
on Earth, Dr Scott treated us to a talk about
Delphi, the subject of his latest book,
exploring the history of the excavations and
explaining how this place worked as a
religious centre, and showing how the Greeks
(and the Romans) manipulated this into
a lucrative tourist attraction for pious
sightseers.
At every level, we have been privileged to
study cornerstone works of literature, philosophy and art. The Second Form have made
an excellent start to Latin, have read extracts
from the Odyssey and have learnt the Greek
alphabet. The Third Form have considered
various classical pearls of wisdom, developed
their language skills and have made a start to
Dr Michael Scott (second right) visits Coll
Greek. The GCSE latinists have read Pliny’s
famous account of the eruption of Vesuvius
and other presentations of Roman virtue, and
have studied some Horace and Virgil,
exploring the difficulties of travel in the
ancient world. The greekers have enjoyed
tragedy and Herodotus as their set books. In
the Sixth Form, Latin, Greek and Ancient
History continue to develop. The latinists
have studied a rich and varied diet of Cicero
and Ovid for AS, and Tacitus and Virgil for
A2, blending myth, history and culture at
every turn. In Greek, Homer and Lysias have
formed the literature for AS, and for A2,
Plato and Sophocles have provided some of
the finest writing in any language from any
period. The historians continue to examine
the Greek and Roman worlds through their
historical microscope, comparing and
contrasting ancient and modern and realising
that history really does have a habit of
repeating itself.
An innovation this year has been the
setting up of the Classics Twitter feed, which
has many links to a huge variety of articles on
classical topics: check it out at @CollClassics.
I am indebted to JDW and VMD for their
tireless efforts and enthusiasm. Charles
Millar’s antiquities collection has been
admired by all and valued by experts, adding
another interesting string to our bow. The
rich and complex beauty engages, inspires
and invigorates us all, and will continue to do
so for many more years.
G W J Pounder
Issy Arnaud,
Cambridge Classicist
Upper Sixth Former Issy Arnaud will read
Classics at King’s College, Cambridge, from
October 2015. She joined Glenalmond in the
Third Form, from Craigclowan. Her brother
Jamie is in the Lower Sixth, having completed
his GCSEs in May.
From the age of ten, Latin was a firm
favourite of Issy’s: “Mrs Wright inspired me. I
was awarded the Friends of Glenalmond
Classics Scholarship Award and couldn’t wait
to start studying Ancient Greek with Mr
Wright in the Fourth Form.”
Her passion was further fuelled by the
“fantastic” Glenalmond Italia trip in March
2013. “For me, Greek tragedy is the most vivid
and enthralling element of Classics, offering a
conduit to the attitudes, imagination and fears
of fifth-century Athens,” enthuses Issy.
External reward arrived in the form of winning
Glasgow University’s Gilbert Murray Essay
competition in 2014, with a creative piece
inspired by Euripides’ ‘Hippolyus’.
But Issy’s life at Coll was not all about the
Greeks and the Romans. A keen singer since
the Third Form she performed in Barcelona –
“an amazing experience” – on tour with the
chamber choir. Having begun public speaking
at prep school, Glenalmond honed her skills
with frequent ‘verbal jousts’ and culminated in
the “great privilege” of participating, with her
partner Robert Wilson, in the final of the
Donald Dewar competition at Holyrood.
Getting the offer of the place at Cambridge
was a tough process. “Each college and each
subject does things slightly differently,”
explains Issy, “so it’s impossible to know exactly
what to expect.” It was a team effort from Coll:
Mr Wright and Mr Pounder gave lots of valuable help and advice and Mrs Davey organised
practice interview sessions. The Michaelmas
Term was packed with revision of irregular
verb forms, set authors and recapping of her
personal statement.
The actual interview process at Cambridge
was quite a “daunting prospect.” Issy had three
interviews spread out over one day; two at
King’s (her chosen college) and a final interview at a randomly allocated second college. It
wasn’t all unknown quantities though, “I was
quite nervous but it was exciting to have my
first interview with a King’s Fellow who I had
heard give a fascinating lecture at an open day
I had attended.”
Issy was “thrilled” to receive her offer from
King’s in January, “I have grown up watching
‘Carols from King’s’ every Christmas and have
always been awestruck by its beautiful chapel
and ornate buildings.”
Mairi Fraser
Modern Foreign Languages
Italia 2015
The best way to see a city is on foot, and we
certainly delivered on this promise: averaging
12 miles per day, according to assorted apps,
we took in all the usual sights; Rome ancient
and modern, Ostia, and countless coffee and
gelato stops combined to make memorable
experiences for one and all. Favourite sights
included the Colosseum, St Peter’s Basilica,
and the wonderful Capitoline Museums. We
also visited some spots new even to veteran
JDW, including the fascinating and extravagant tomb of the baker Eurysaces by the
Porta Maggiore.
From Rome we travelled south on the
aptly named Freccia Rossa (Red Arrow)
train, which hit 300km/h, stopping at
Pompeii and allowing TTMH to tick this
amazing city off her bucket list. That evening
we went on to Paestum, the jewel of
Campania, and home of the finest Greek
temple in existence. This breathtaking place
served as a timely rest from the bustle of
Rome, allowing everyone to engage with life
at a slower pace, but filled with cultural
interest nonetheless. Paestum of course
delivered more ice creams, and the best
tomato and mozzarella rolls in the world! The
Freccia Rossa carried us at great speed back
to Rome, and a quick visit to the mid-renovation Trevi Fountain guaranteed our future
return: a small access point allowed pilgrims
like us to throw our coins in.
Once again Glenalmond Italia was a
tremendous success: my thanks go to JDW
for his boundless enthusiasm and knowledge,
to TTMH for her support and good humour,
and of course to the 29 pupils who were
delightful company from start to finish. This
trip was certainly as good, and more, as any in
my time at Glenalmond and I am extremely
grateful to everyone who helped make it
happen.
Photos and commentary may be found on
the Twitter page: @CollItalia.
G W J Pounder
If asked to guess, what would you say is the
language most in demand by British businesses? Mandarin? Arabic? Spanish? The
answer is German. 50% of British companies
recently rated German the foreign language
that would be most useful to their organisation, closely followed by French (49%) and
Spanish (37%). Certainly the Goethe Institut
reports that they are overwhelmed by requests
from Scottish businesses who want to access
the German market but who need interpreters. Glenalmond has a long tradition of
excellent results in German and it would seem
that our pupils could benefit from their
language skills when it comes to improving
their chances in the highly competitive jobs
market.
This message was reinforced when the
Scottish Centre for Languages (SCILT) came
to Glenalmond in the Lent Term to talk to
the Fifth Form about the value of languages.
They heard that a staggering sum – over £60
billion per year – is lost to the British
economy as a result of a lack of language
skills. We are proud that increasing numbers
of OGs are now poised to fill this gap having
gone on to study courses such as
International Management or Business with
a language, picking up some valuable work
experience at very prestigious firms on the
way.
Shortly after the SCILT talk, we saw a
wide-ranging group of pupils take part in the
International Linguistics Olympiad and the
Juvenes Translatores translation competition. Linguistics is the science of languages
and pupils were asked to decipher problems
ranging from Nordic runes to Georgian.
There was a very positive response from
pupils who enjoyed the challenge and we were
delighted to gain one Gold, two Silver and
three Bronze certificates. We will certainly be
entering next year and aiming to do even
better.
Easter saw the annual Spanish trip head off
to Valencia in search of sun and improved
language skills, ably led by ‘Captain of
Spanish’ Minnie Murray-Poore and the Upper
Sixth hispanists. To the consternation of most
on the trip, the first day saw Valencia hit by
the highest rainfall in over 100 years and
pupils arrived at the language school accompanied by thunder and lightning. Thankfully
the weather improved and by the third day we
were able to sit down and relax after a hard
morning of lessons at the Oceanografic,
Europe’s largest aquarium. The dolphin
display proved hugely popular. We also
crammed in visits to the bullfighting museum
and the now traditional ascent of the 207 steps
of the Miguelete tower to enjoy the views
from the top. Many thanks are due to JAG
who gave up a week of his holiday to come
with us and who walked miles each day to
double and triple check our routes.
No report on the year in Modern
Languages would be complete without the
mention of the retirement of Jeremy Poulter
and the loss of Kathryn Watson, who goes to
Shanghai. Both Jeremy and Kathryn have
been pillars of the MFL Department and
have offered outstanding support to
colleagues and learners alike. We are very
grateful to both of them for their efforts over
the years.
Mrs J Davey
In Valencia
English
As is ever the case, the English Department
has been the site of change, development
and progression. As I prepare to hand over
the department, I reflect on the past eight
years and the shape of the department as it
stands today.
My key aims on arrival were to boost the
profile of the department and look at new
ways of teaching and better ways of using
resources. The department in 2007 was a
friendly and open place, with keen and
motivated members and where results were
stable and often excellent. It has continued to
move forward, with new technology to
accommodate modern learning and to enable
us to use the resources at our fingertips: the
creation of an online sharing space for
resources and the investment in Smart
Boards, digital projectors, online textual
resources, buying up DVDs and ditching
VHS, as well as subscribing to online versions
of pupil magazines such as The English
Review and emagazine. Housing the department under one roof meant that we could
teach with a much better sense of cohesion
and clarity and that’s the way it still is today.
Now we are finding our way with the excellent Firefly VLE, which promises to add
much to the academic landscape of the
Glenalmond pupil.
But it’s not enough to change the environment; we also changed our approach to the
way we teach English and English Literature.
The Second and Third Form Schemes of
Work were redesigned very much with the
idea of offering a skills-based course that
would allow us to teach pupils in order to
boost their abilities in reading, writing and
speaking in line with GCSE standards. Not
only that, we were increasingly uneasy about
the lack of literary knowledge of genre,
literary heritage and writers, and so we
pumped the curriculum with more texts and
promoted The Reading Challenge with the
library. We moved to a more formative
assessment model that would allow pupils to
take more control over their learning and
understanding of their own abilities. The
department continues to lead the way in
Assessment for Learning practices, and self
and peer-assessment. Whole-school literacy,
The Learning Project and Literacy Strategy
have been born out of what the English
Department has always promoted; it’s nice to
know we have a positive influence.
These new approaches led to some great
results, especially at A2 where we continually
punch above our weight in securing excellent
grades. The picture at GCSE is similarly solid
with increasing numbers gaining As, and far
fewer Cs and Ds. The monitoring of pupils
against their baseline data (Midyis and Alis)
has allowed us to think more clearly about
target-setting and the ways we might teach to
different abilities, and the way we now use
educational research to inform our teaching
gives us a good lead on deciding why we
teach in certain ways. I have been very happy
to send off three students to Oxbridge to
study English, but also very happy to report
The Room for Improvement
that we have also seen large numbers every
year go on to read English at other universities. Instilling pupils with a love and passion
for literature is firmly rooted in everything
we do.
It seems bizarre to think that in my relatively short time here the GCSE specifications have changed three times and the
A-level twice. We are currently planning for
the new Gove-style A-levels while preparing
also to deliver the CIE IGCSE from
September. In the light of these changes, the
Second and Third Form curriculum has
changed accordingly.
I now move on to run a department in
Shanghai. It has been a real pleasure to work
in such an adaptable, forward-thinking
department and I will miss teaching in The
Room for Improvement with its quirky design
and stunning views.
M Watson
Debating
The debating season kicked off in the
Michaelmas Term with the senior House
competition. The final, with the motion, ‘This
house believes brains are better than beauty’,
was hotly contested between Patchell’s
and Skrine’s, with a strong performance from
Ryan Craig and Angus Sandison winning for
Skrine’s. In the Lent Term, the junior
House competition was won by Ellie
Kirkland and Becky Mundill of Home, who
narrowly beat the Matheson’s team in a
fiercely fought final.
Hector Knight and Noah Khogali reached
the second round of the Donald Dewar
competition, while Noah and Alex Wallace
reached the second round of the Junior ESU
competition.
This year, the Debating Society held weekly
meetings for enthusiastic debaters during the
Monday afternoon activity slot. In addition to
brainstorming the motions of external competition debates, practice debates were held to
enable keen new debaters to gain skills and
confidence, with more experienced debaters
offering feedback and tips. Fun balloon
debates and games of ‘Just a Minute’ also
provided an informal and enjoyable way for
newcomers to get a taste of public speaking.
With numerous eager and committed
debaters in the junior school, the future of the
Debating Society is bright!
Issy Arnaud (U6, Home)
Geography
My first task as the incoming Head of
Department was to open up the spreadsheet of
exam results for the 2014 cohort. It was with
some relief that I realised that the phone calls
I was about to make to all of the leaving Upper
Sixth were going to be overwhelmingly positive. Of the 32 pupils taking Geography at A2
level, 100% of them scored A*-C grades, with
53% recording either an A or an A* grade. This
very much set the tone for what was to be
another very successful year.
Our fieldwork programme saw the Fourth
Form completing coursework based around
ecosystems on the Knock of Crieff, which was
used for the controlled assessment element of
the course. The Lower Sixth added to our evergrowing bank of data suggesting that erosion in
the River Almond is strongly affected by its
intersection with the Highland Boundary
Fault. Along with the Biology Department, the
Lower Sixth also spent four days in the Lake
District to complete their coursework on the
Drigg Sands spit. In December, Dr Gibson also
took a group of 16 pupils to Costa Rica (see
overleaf) as part of our new international fieldtrip programme. We already have a group
signed up to visit the volcanic island of
Montserrat in the summer of 2016.
The department has continued to offer value
far beyond the timetabled lessons. Dr Gibson
accompanied a group of eight boys to the
Public Health Information Network for
Scotland seminar in Glasgow and four pupils
have completed the introduction to GIS as
their Monday afternoon activity. Mr Swaile has
also run an EAL Geography class for all of our
one-year EAL pupils in order to allow them to
complete the GCSE course in one year, rather
than two. We have held six well-attended
‘Geog-on’ film evenings, with titles ranging
from ‘Blackfish’ to ‘The Impossible’.
At the end of this academic year we said
goodbye to Georgy Armitage who has
endeared herself to all of the lower age
group classes she taught. We also have to
congratulate Mr Swaile on his promotion to
Housemaster of Patchell’s, necessitating that
the majority of his teaching will now be with
the Sixth Form geographers. We look
forward to welcoming a new full-time member
of the department, Richard Myers, who joins
us in September from Jeddah Prep and
Grammar School in Saudi Arabia.
S M S Smith
Member Simple Plurality voting system.
The nature of the study of Political Science
dictates that textbooks rapidly become out of
date and the examiners, most of whom are
fully paid-up political ‘anoraks’, give much
credit for up to date analysis and topical
examples. The US mass-media focus on the
race for the Democratic and Republican
presidential nominations will provide rich
pickings for those continuing into the Upper
Sixth in 2016, whilst the Holyrood elections,
the new Labour leadership, and the
approaching EU referendum will provide
ample opportunity for pupils to display their
engagement with the issues of the day on this
side of the Atlantic.
I introduced the subject of Government &
Politics to Coll 13 years ago and it is now time
for me to hand over the baton to Linda
Donaldson. The subject will, I am sure,
continue to thrive, attracting both pupils who
naturally opt for Humanities and Social
Sciences and mathematicians and scientists
who choose it as their sole essay-based subject.
In those 13 years I have had the good fortune
to teach any number of tremendously engaging
pupils. This year’s Politics Prize winners were
Hannah-Jane Headon in the Upper Sixth, and
Lea Michael in the Lower Sixth. Other pupils
also worked extremely well, but these two
richly deserved the gold medal.
A Norton
Government & Politics
The continued popularity of the study of
Government & Politics at Glenalmond is
reflected in the fact that despite only being
available in one option block the subject was
undertaken by 18% of the Sixth Form in
2014/2015, with a cohort of 20 pupils in the
Lower Sixth.
The focus on the United Kingdom and the
United States continues to throw up a host of
topical issues that can be deployed to illustrate
essay answers. The use of referenda for Scottish
independence and continued EU membership
has certainly enlivened debate, and the 2015
Westminster elections provided fertile ground
for discussion of democracy and representation
with respect to the vagaries of the Single
The Pure Life: Ten Days in Costa Rica
As I discovered on our ten-day school trip to
study the Geography and Biology of Costa
Rica last Christmas, Costa Ricans are
immensely proud of their beautiful country.
The customary greeting and ubiquitous
slogan on T-shirts of ‘pura vida’ (the pure life)
is not just a description of their optimistic
outlook on life, but their determination to
conserve through sustainable management
and eco-tourism Costa Rica’s many unspoiled
natural resources.
Waking up on the morning of our arrival
and looking from the window of our hotel in
a suburb of the capital San José, my first
impression of Costa Rica was of the lushness
of its vegetation. As we journeyed southeast
towards the Limon Province, this rich
greenery became ever denser. Our destination was the 8,000-acre EARTH University
(Escuela de Agricultura de la Region Tropical
Humeda), an agricultural college in the heart
of the tropical rainforest. Here one of the
students gave us an interesting insight into
the university curriculum as he took us on a
tour of the campus, telling us about the agricultural techniques that were taught, which
emphasised social and environmental responsibility and sustainable agriculture in tropical
environments.
From the EARTH University we travelled
northeast to Finca Pacuarito, in the heart of
banana plantation country. At the Del Monte
factory we witnessed vast bunches of bananas
being hauled along by special pulleys to be
processed and packed. We learned that a
banana tree is not really a tree at all but a
herbaceous plant or ‘herb’, each of its huge
‘bunches’ numbering an amazing 200 or so
bananas in total. Given that Costa Rica
exports over two million tonnes of bananas
worldwide every year, it came as a surprise to
find out that tourism has now overtaken
bananas as the nation’s leading foreign
exchange earner. However, as our journey
through Costa Rica’s varied and spectacular
scenery and its diverse flora and fauna slowly
unfolded, I began to fully appreciate why the
country was last year named top tourist destination in a survey of 23,000 globetrotters
from 26 countries. Quite simply, Costa Rica
has something for everyone, or, as the blurb
from the Global Tourism Monitor survey
justly asserted, with “rain forests, volcanoes,
world-class beaches, great weather and
sloths, what’s not to like?”
At Finca Pacuarito we stayed at a rainforest
campsite. It was not only charming in the
simplicity of its accommodation and facilities,
but impressed with its excellent eco-credentials; the site, for example, was constructed
almost entirely from local wood, and used
several capacious tanks for the careful
harvesting of rainwater. Indeed, I was able to
draw on the eco-tourism I experienced at
Finca Pacuarito when writing a case study in
my mock GCSE Geography exam this
January in answer to a question about
sustainable rainforest management. I will
never forget this first experience of ecotourism and how special it was to lie in my
tent at night and listen to the amazing foreign
noises of wildlife calling from around us in
the rainforest.
From Finca Pacuarito, the next stop on
our itinerary was Tirimbina, a large reserve
situated in the northern region of Costa Rica.
Tirimbina’s abundant and biologically diverse
forest offered us the opportunity to walk
through and observe primary rainforest.
Helping one of Glenalmond’s Sixth Form
Geography pupils with their research project
allowed a small group of us to venture
outside Tirimbina’s boundaries along a trail
towards a remote research station. The area
was off the beaten track with terrain which
was tricky to traverse; however, seeing first
hand such a complex ecosystem so undisturbed by human activity made me feel
remarkably privileged and is one of my most
vivid memories of our trip.
The rangers at Tirimbina’s Rainforest
Centre were not only extremely knowledgeable in their field, but had an enthusiasm that
was contagious. They delivered a talk about
the centre’s programme to study, monitor and
protect the 59 species of bats found in the
reserve and invited us to view living specimens at close range. Following this
encounter, I confess that my pursuit of
sighting iconic rainforest animals and plants
verged on the obsessive. Thankfully, my
efforts were rewarded in the form of a
resplendent red-eyed tree frog complete with
blue and yellow striped sides and orange toes
which decided to hitch a lift on my waterproof
jacket during our ‘frog tour’ one evening!
During other walks, eyes peeled at all times, I
was lucky enough to spot wild parrots, a sloth
hanging upside-down from the branch of a
nearby tree, and a kinkajou, also known as a
‘honey bear’ because of its penchant for
flower nectar and sweet fruits, which showed
off its long, prehensile tail and looked at me
with enormous, black, enquiring eyes.
Like many of us, one of my great passions is
chocolate. During our visit to Tirimbina we
enjoyed being led by a trained guide through
the forest and across a suspension bridge to a
former cacao-growing plot where we learned
more about the cacao tree and its fruit. We
were shown different traditional processes
involved in the transformation of the cacao
fruit into the chocolate that makes its way into
Perthshire supermarkets more than 3,000
miles away, and rounded off our fascinating
lesson with a delicious exercise in chocolate
tasting.
The next leg of our trip found us in the
picturesque village of La Fortuna, around
90km northwest of San José. Nestled directly
under the looming presence of the Arenal
Volcano, the town’s farmers take advantage of
fertile volcanic soils, growing an array of
produce, from papaya and ginger root, to
oranges, pineapple, and sugar cane. This was
my first sight of an active volcano and I was
intrigued by the stories about Arenal’s earliest
eruptions 7,000 years ago and its most recent
eruptive period which began with a major
explosion in 1968 during which three small
villages were buried, resulting in 87 fatalities.
Since 2010, seismic activity has significantly
reduced, but, as both the columns of ash
discharging from the crater and our local
guide reminded us, the area’s hazard status
continues to be periodically raised to red
alert. An expedition to the base of Arenal was
awe-inspiring, and also included further
wildlife sightings of a band of coatimundi
(members of the raccoon family) and a
howler monkey. Despite my best efforts,
however, I was disappointed never to catch a
glimpse of one of Costa Rica’s famous
Capuchin monkeys, which feature on the
country’s 5,000 Colones banknote.
Later that day there was a welcome chance
to relax at one of the many hot springs - a
series of pools heated to different temperatures using geothermal energy. There I had a
close encounter with a creature not on my
spotter’s list – one of Costa Rica’s 139 species
of snakes, a few of which are venomous.
Luckily, this specimen slithered away under a
sun bed before it could pose any potential
threat.
Returning to San José at the end of our trip
provided an opportunity to experience some
Costa Rican culture. Dr Gibson kindly took a
small group of us around the subterranean
Pre-Columbian Gold Museum in the centre
of the city to marvel at its extraordinary
collection of beautifully crafted artisan gold
objects dating back to between 500AD and
1500AD. Many of these pieces, used as
adornments or given in ritual ceremonies to
the natural surroundings, represented native
animal species, such as fish, jaguars, frogs and
turtles. Other fascinating displays included
artefacts and information about indigenous
Costa Rican tribes and the arrival of the
Spanish Conquistadors.
I had long dreamed of visiting the
Americas, and our study trip to Costa Rica
did not disappoint. It gave me an insight into
exciting ecosystems, different geographical
features, captivating animals and plants, and
introduced me to a new culture of friendly
people and their customs, and delicious culinary discoveries. I hope to return one day to
Costa Rica, maybe as one of Far Frontiers’
expedition leaders, or on holiday with my
family, whose interest in the country was
kindled by the stories and photographs that I
shared on my return. I look forward to
landing again at Aeropuerto Internacional
Juan Santamaría in San José and that warm
welcome of ‘Bienvenidos a Costa Rica, la
tierra de la pura vida’; perhaps, next time, I
will succeed in my search for one of those
elusive, white-faced Capuchin monkeys!
Jamie Arnaud (V, Reid’s)
‘Since 2010, seismic activity has
significantly reduced, but, as both
the columns of ash discharging
from the crater and our local guide
reminded us, the area’s hazard
status continues to be periodically
raised to red alert.’
Economics and
Business Studies
Economics and Business both feature as
‘reformed’ A-level subjects so a considerable
amount of behind the scenes preparation for
the new syllabi has taken place ahead of their
first teaching in September 2015. In the new
A-level Economics syllabus, far greater
emphasis will be placed on topics such as
‘Financial’ Economics and also ‘Behavioural’
Economics.
The A-level Economics syllabus covers
significant amounts of rigorous theory but it
also integrates contemporary economic issues
alongside analysis of policy options and decision-making. Topics such as the continued
recovery of the UK economy, accounting for
the Bank of England’s decision to extend UK
base interest rates at 0.5% for over six years,
the ‘deflationary’ implications of the
Consumer Price Index reaching 0%, the wider
implications of falling oil prices, the UK
budget deficit and whether or not there will be
a surplus in the next decade, and the advantages of the UK retaining its own currency
relative to the benefits and costs of adopting
the Euro, all weaved their way into lessons.
The A2 pre-release stimulus material
issued a few months ahead of the summer
examination required much insight and
detailed understanding of on-going economic
issues relating to:
• analysis of UK ‘austerity’ measures allied
to the perceived need for re-balancing of
the UK economy (i.e. reducing our
overdependence on consumer expenditure and increasing the contribution of
investment and exports to GDP)
• how the UK can increase its international
competitiveness and so become more
attractive to direct foreign investment
whilst also boosting net exports
• analysis of the consequences of
Globalisation – have the rich nations got
richer at the expense of poorer nations?
It was a complex series of extracts that fully
“stretched and challenged” the pupils as A2
Economics is designed to do.
Many of the micro-economic classes
analysed Government intervention in the
form of tax measures; our pupils are familiar
with Air Passenger Duty and a range of excise
duties, but they are also expected to analyse
how forms of regulation, public sector provision and EU funding can be, or are applied,
to correct various forms of “market failure”.
A GCSE short course was introduced for
international pupils who join the College in
the Fifth Form. This one-year course of study
focuses on Money, Work and the Global
Economy and was warmly received and will, I
hope, be a step towards the teaching of a full
GCSE in due course.
My colleague, Peter Golden, oversaw the
majority of the Business Studies classes which
investigated the themes and commercial
environments contained within the syllabus.
J C Robinson
Mathematics
The year got off to a good start following
the results in August 2014. The A-level results
in particular were very pleasing, with close to
70% of the pupils achieving A* or A grades.
The GCSE results were also good and the
Fourth Form class who did the examination a
year early all achieved A* grades. In addition,
the Lower Sixth classes gave themselves an
excellent foundation upon which to build in the
Upper Sixth with most grades being A or B.
The Glenalmond Mathematical Society got
up and running this year and had close to 30
pupils from the Second to the Fifth Forms
meeting on a regular basis to look at problems
beyond the GCSE specification.
This year we also had the largest entry into
the Senior and Intermediate Maths challenges
that Glenalmond has ever had and as a result
there was a big increase in the number of
certificates awarded. In the Senior Maths
Challenge, four Gold, four Silver and 26 Bronze
certificates were awarded. Duncan Wither, Jack
Hu, Anne Le Roux and Lea Michael all
achieved golds, with Duncan and Jack going on
to compete in the British Mathematical
Olympiad. A special mention must also go to
Alex Wallace who only missed a Gold certificate
by two marks – this is particularly impressive
because he is only in the Third Form.
The Intermediate Challenge was equally
successful with three Golds (Alex Wallace,
Olivia Wise and Alex Coward), 14 Silvers and
18 Bronzes awarded. Alex Wallace went on to
compete in the Intermediate Olympiad, where
he achieved a merit, and Olivia Wise and
Rowan Heron went on to compete in the
Kangaroo competitions.
As a result of the Glenalmond Learning
Project we have been working on a few
different initiatives which we look forward to
rolling out next year. The changes should be
wholly positive and help our pupils to become
more independent learners. We also look
forward to having Miss Rachel Mullan join us
in September. Rachel will be moving across
from Northern Ireland and will be a strong
addition to both the Mathematics Department
and the school as a whole.
G G O’Neill
William Bright Society
How far can young people go if you
remove the boundaries? What academic
standards can they reach when they are
unrestricted by curricula, resources or
expectations? What are their limits?
In the William Bright Society we have tried
to address some of these questions over the
last couple of years but have yet to find a
satisfactory answer. The only conclusion we
seem to be able to draw is that the education
system itself can sometimes actually be the
limiting factor, the very thing that stops pupils
from thinking big.
In January 2015, we launched the WBS
Junior Research Projects. This was an
attempt to see what the pupils could do if we
threw them into the deepest academic waters
and walked away. Third and Fourth Formers
were put into small groups according to the
academic disciplines they regard to be their
strongest and the ones they most enjoyed.
They were not the usual school subject
groups, but broader categories such as social
sciences, humanities, engineering, philosophy, the arts. The pupils were then given a
list of research titles that had been drafted by
the academic staff and they were asked to
choose one from their allocated category. The
titles were ambiguous, frustratingly vague,
intellectually challenging, and, in many cases,
reflected topics that had little research to
back them up or obvious directions to follow.
Titles included:
• The velocity of high-speed travel is limited
only by our imaginations. Discuss
• The world’s largest bridges are ‘form over
function’. Discuss
• Is time travel possible?
• Photography is painting without the skill.
Discuss
• The Golden Ratio: as important for Art and
for Mathematics?
• Game Theory could be used to make
Scotland’s economy stronger. Discuss
• Democracy is divisive. Discuss
The pupils were given a Sixth Form
specialist to advise them on research techniques and a staff member to act as project
supervisor. The pupils were told at the start
that they had six weeks to undertake their
research and produce a presentation on their
findings to a panel of academic staff. They
were to be taught nothing; they were to be
given no targets; they were provided with no
criteria for success or directions to follow.
The presentations were a triumph. The
pupils demonstrated insight and vision
through their research. Their approaches to
such unusual topics were expansive and
creative; their minds had expanded to fill the
vacuum we had left them with such open
research briefs. With the process completed,
they received no formal feedback, scores or
prizes, yet at least four of the groups, and
many more individuals, opted to pursue their
research even further, just for the sake of it. It
is easy to forget these pupils are only 14 years
old, yet they have an academic hunger that is
insatiable and evidently needs feeding.
This experiment with junior research projects will be continued next year, yet it really
forms the precursor to independent study in
the Sixth Form. With the introduction of the
Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) in 2013
we have had a soaring interest in academic
study that is not bound by curricula demands
and stifling examination constraints. Many of
this year’s submissions for the Wordsworth
Medal, the prestigious silver medal awarded
each year at Commem for independent
academic research, were based around EPQ
projects. The winner, Issy Arnaud, focused on
the extent to which the work of Euripides
represented a new moral and religious creed in
ancient Greece. Issy, like last year’s winner, Issy
Houston, will continue her studies at the
University of Cambridge. Other superb
submissions this year included a meta-analysis
of the relationship between HIV prevalence in
sub-Saharan Africa and cultural-religious
national profiles, a study into the transition of
Pablo Neruda poetry into stage drama, and an
evaluation of techniques used in artificial
insemination in horses.
We have also witnessed a booming interest in
environmental research that has real-world
applications. Two current and ongoing studies,
one focusing on the carbon storage implications
of peatland engineering, and the second looking
at ecological management of psammosere environments, have both attracted significant
interest from the academic research communities, including Natural England, Scottish
Natural Heritage and Edinburgh University. We
have also been provided with the incredible
opportunity, through generous donation and
through College funding, to develop a state-ofthe-art dedicated research facility, at the heart of
Front Quad. This will house university standard
laboratory instrumentation that will allow interdisciplinary research projects to be conducted
that are normally the reserve of commercial and
academic researchers. The research unit will be
available for all pupils across Perthshire, both
from independent schools and from our partner
schools in the state sector. It will provide them
with the unusual opportunity to engage with
high-level environmental research issues, those
which weave together Chemistry, Biology,
Geography, Geology, Environmental Science,
and Mathematics.
How far the pupils will take this opportunity we cannot say. If experiences from recent
months in the William Bright Society are
anything to go by, the sky is the limit.
M Gibson
Lower Sixth Lecture Series
The Lower Sixth lectures take place every Wednesday during the Michaelmas and Lent
Terms. They tend to fall into one of three categories.
• Life after Glenalmond: guest speakers who share life experience regarding university application, life at university and career options.
• Inspirational Talks: guest speakers who have achieved remarkable things.
• Beyond the Curriculum: guest speakers who are experts in their field and able to deliver
information that you would never come across in a classroom setting.
We were privileged to hear from the following speakers this year.
Animal rights and experimentation
Africa and Asia venture
Teenage Cancer Trust
Illicit drug trafficking
The UN in Cyprus
The Caledonian Club
Islam: Yesterday, today and tomorrow
Polar exploration
CV writing
The Gloag Foundation
Amnesty International: Human rights
University finance
Racism
UCAS personal statements
Chartered Accountancy (IEACW)
Strutt and Parker
Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)
Gillian Whisker
Sue Osbourne
Stephen Jones
Paul Cook
Angus Loudon
Ian Campbell
Angus Hay
Alex Hibbert
The Warden
Judy Thomson
Elena Soper
The Warden
Robin Mundill
Sandy Norton
Amanda Akien
Andrew Duncan and Annabel Blackett
George Pounder
Community
Chapel
In chronicling the year which concludes at
Commem 2015, we must record that it has
been a great blessing to the College to have
had, in Gordon Woods, a Warden who has
recognised the centrality of Chapel life and of
Christian values in the life of this busy
boarding and day school. Emma Woods has
also played an invaluable (and often unsung)
role in terms of nurturing and supporting the
College community as a whole – pupils, staff,
parents and OGs. In addition to their regular
presence for worship in Chapel, Gordon has
been licensed by the Bishop to administer the
chalice at the Eucharist, whilst Emma has
overseen the provision of an eclectic range of
flower arrangements for Chapel. As they
move to graze pastures new, I thank them for
all the support they have given to me personally and wish them God’s continued blessing
for the future.
Irrespective of faith (or lack of faith), each
weekday sees every pupil gather for a short
corporate act of worship in Chapel at 8.30am.
Although I sense a decline in the support of
some staff for this aspect of our collegiate life,
the presence of members of staff in Chapel
does serve to help unify our common life
together and sets a positive example to the
pupil body. So, it is with considerable regret
that I note the absence of colleagues morning
by morning. Most Mondays see a member of
staff other than the Chaplain give the short
address in Chapel and it is good to hear
different voices and different perspectives on
faith and morals. Oluchi Adeboye gave a
powerful rendition of “His eye is on the
sparrow”. The Third Form band comprising
Jock Begg, Angus Grierson and Alexander
Wallace concluded the final weekday Chapel
service of Trinity Term playing a Proclaimers
number from Sunshine on Leith. The Lower
Sixth Form were played out of Chapel with a
moving setting of ‘Highland Cathedral’ for
organ and bagpipes, with Archie Rettie piping
in the Gallery as they departed for the annual
Leadership Exercise.
This year’s two Chapel Prefects, Ailidh
Richardson and Helena Clayhills-Henderson,
have demonstrated a high level of commitment and efficiency in carrying out their
duties. College Sacristan Samuel David has
been a gentle and prayerful support
throughout the year. One of the most pleasing
things for me, as Chaplain, is when I stand at
the door of Chapel as pupils depart, many of
them make eye contact, smile and offer words
of appreciation and encouragement.
The Chaplaincy Team comprised Mr Peter
Golden, Mrs Nicola Henderson, Dr Robin
Mundill and Mr John Wright. They all
contributed in different ways and it was good
to have John Wright preach at a Sunday
Service in Trinity Term having waited
patiently for 108 terms to be invited to do so!
Mrs Lyndsey Swaile is taking over flower
arranging duties from Mrs Emma Woods. Mrs
Katrina Hutchison-O’Neill continues to run a
small Sunday School (including the annual
Nativity Play) for the younger members of our
community. Our informal Christian fellowship
group, SoulSpace, has continued under the
leadership of Mr Mike Allnutt, assisted this
year by Mrs Georgy Armitage. This small
group comprises Sixth Formers most weeks
and efforts have been made to reach out to
younger pupils over the year.
Increasingly, sports and other activities
are scheduled for Sunday morning and this,
inevitably, has an impact on numbers
attending Sunday worship in Chapel.
Nonetheless, we continue to attract guest
preachers who offer thought-provoking and
challenging sermons. In the Michaelmas
Term, we welcomed Father Willy Slavin (a
priest from the Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Glasgow), the Rev’d
Anthony Hodgson (a Church of England
vicar from the Diocese of Blackburn), the
Rev’d Canon Dr John Cuthbert (a priest of
the Scottish Episcopal Church serving as
Rector in the Diocese of Brechin) and the
Rev’d Stephen Holmes (a former
Benedictine monk of Pluscarden Abbey,
now Associate Rector of St John’s, Princes
Street, Edinburgh), Ms Elaine Duncan
(Chief Executive, the Scottish Bible
Society) and the Very Rev’d Kenny
Rathband (Dean of the Diocese of St
Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane).
In addition to the Rev’d Jonathan de
Groot (Minister of Sandyford Henderson
Memorial Church in Glasgow), the Lent
Term’s preachers included two priests who
had served as Chaplains with Gordon and
Emma Woods in former years: the Rev’d
Gary Dobbie (Chaplain, Shrewsbury
School) and the Rev’d Charlie Kerr
(Chaplain, St Edward’s School, Oxford).
Old Glenalmond the Rev’d Nigel Barge
(Minister of Torrance Parish Church)
returned to preach at Coll, as did the father
of a recent OG, the Rev’d Nick Green (Rector
of St Mary’s, Dunblane).
In the Trinity Term, we were joined by Mr
Christian de Lisle (a Seminarian in the Roman
Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster), the
Rev’d Diana Hall (the recently ordained
Curate of St Andrew’s Church, St Andrews
who was with us for Vocations Sunday), former
Chaplain of Coll, the Rev’d Peter König and
the newly-appointed Diocesan Missioner, the
Rev’d Thomas Brauer.
The contribution of Chapel Choir, under the
direction of Dr Tim Ridley and supported this
year by Captain of Choir Catriona Loudon, is
hugely appreciated by many people, including
the Chaplain. Although their contribution is
perhaps most obviously showcased on
Glenalmond Choral Day, Candlelit Carol
Services and Commemoration Day, these
accomplished church musicians enhance our
worship day in and day out. We are also fortunate in having several pupils who play the
organ from time to time, as does Mr George
Pounder (OG).
One of our most poignant annual services
takes place on Remembrance Sunday. This
year, the address was delivered by Captain Ed
Whitten, The Light Dragoons (Reid’s 2000-05)
and the OG Club wreath was laid by Captain
Tom Mortensen, 1st Battalion Scots Guards
(Reid’s 2000-05). This was followed, on 11
November, by an Act of Remembrance and
Reflection to mark the Centenary of the
outbreak of the First World War. 157 candles
burned before the altar, in memory of the 157
sons of Glenalmond who died during the Great
War 1914-19, alongside the Paschal Candle
representing Jesus Christ, the Light of the
World. Thanks to the Gordon Highlanders
Museum, Aberdeen, and the Lord Ashcroft
Gallery at the Imperial War Museum in
London, the three Victoria Crosses won by Old
Glenalmonds were brought to Coll and were
processed into Chapel. The Victoria Cross
awarded to Lieutenant James Dundas (185557), Royal Engineers, was brought forward and
laid upon the altar by Mr Alasdair Purdie,
President of the Senior Common Room and
Captain Abi Crockett, School Staff Instructor,
Glenalmond College CCF. The Victoria Cross
awarded to Sub-Lieutenant William Henry
Dick-Cunyngham
(1860-66),
Gordon
Highlanders, was brought forward and laid
upon the altar by Hannah-Jane Headon and
Angus Sandison, Captains of College. The
Victoria Cross awarded to Wing Commander
Hugh Gordon Malcolm (Skrine’s 1931-35),
RAF, was brought forward and laid upon the
altar by Amy Cameron and James Grant, the
two youngest pupils at Coll. After the Service,
the 157 candles were extinguished, leaving
only the single flame of the Paschal Candle,
representing the light of the risen Christ
shining through the darkness.
Increasingly, we find that pupils have
The Captains of
College with the
three OG
Victoria Crosses
already been Confirmed (Anglican or Roman
Catholic) by the time they start at Coll.
However, a good number of Fifth Formers
were prepared for Confirmation in Chapel
this year. The Confirmation Service, held in
May, was presided over by the Most Rev’d
David Chillingworth (Bishop of St Andrews,
Dunkeld & Dunblane and Primus of the
Scottish Episcopal Church). The Right Hand
of Fellowship was extended by the Rev’d
Philip Patterson (Minister of Methven &
Logiealmond, Church of Scotland). This
year’s Confirmandi were:
Annabelle Polly Armstrong-Wilson
Victoria Aynsley
Freddie Cliff
Jennifer Cochrane
Alex Coward
Jack Cross
Georgina Flowers
Campbell Gibson
Fergus Godfrey-Faussett
Charles Hogg
Emily Jarron
Adam Loudon
Maggie Maxwell
Amber Napthine
Alistair Prenter
Molly Ridley
Lorne Robb
Charles Robinson
Eleanor Skinner
Alastair Spencer-Nairn
James Stirling
Hugh Thornton-Kemsley
Theodore Dickson, Henrik Hopmann,
Bertie Lawson-Tancred and Rory Sandison
also attended the course of preparation with
a view to being confirmed at a later date.
In the year to Commem 2015, there have
been 35 celebrations of the Holy Eucharist
(three of them in the informal setting of the
Common Room of Home House), five
Baptisms, and two Marriages. We were
delighted to host the Investiture of new Cubs
from Methven Cubs, with Glenalmond’s
Catering Manager, Akela Tony Abbott, doing
the honours. The Chaplain has officiated at
two Funerals, including that held in
Dunkeld Cathedral for retired Head of
Modern Languages Mr John Gillespie.
Prayers were said at Compline in Chapel for
the soul of young OG Yuri Lavygin who died
suddenly in June.
Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve,
Christmas Morning Eucharist and Easter
Sunday Eucharist all continue to attract
healthy congregations during the school
holidays. Special voluntary services in term
time have marked All Souls’ Day, Ash
Wednesday (with Imposition of Ashes),
Ascension Day and Corpus Christi.
The Chaplain officiated at the Harvest
Festival Service at Craigclowan School and
he continues to serve as Visiting Chaplain at
Ardvreck Prep School and as Chaplain at
Logiealmond Primary School. The Chaplain
continues to serve as Duty Chaplain at
Westminster Abbey during the summer holidays. The Chaplain has also served as
Diocesan Adviser for the Diocese of St
Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane, providing
guidance and support to adult students in
training for ordination and other licensed
ministries under the auspices of the Scottish
Episcopal Institute. The beautiful gardens
developed by Petronella Haldane at
Gleneagles House provided the setting for
two ‘Quiet Afternoons’ led by the Chaplain
for members of the wider community and
attracting participants from various parts of
Scotland. A series of ‘Thoughts’ have been
recorded for broadcast on award-winning
local radio station Heartland FM. External
engagements have included preaching in
Westminster Abbey at Christmas, and the
Chaplain has continued to make himself
available to preach and preside at (about a
dozen) churches elsewhere in the Diocese
and beyond during his school holidays as a
means of providing some assistance where
there are vacancies or other clergy in need of
rest and refreshment.
The Rev’d Giles Dove, College Chaplain
Leadership
Glenalmond’s Leadership Exercise is now in its eighth year and
still going strong. Terrorist Dr Evil made a comeback this year and
tried to lay siege to the College. His plan to stop the new Warden in
her tracks before she made it to Glenalmond was thwarted by our
Lower Sixth Form. As usual, it was a gruelling (but rewarding) threeday experience that allowed each of them to see how they react to
different situations.
This was Leadership 2015…
In advance the pupils attended lectures and activity sessions on
leadership styles, fire-fighting, child protection, expedition health
and first-aid training, and a swim test in the College pool.
The exercise kicked-off on Wednesday, 10 June with a ‘wake up
and focus’ session run by the very friendly Royal Marines. Over the
next three days the pupils operated in groups of around ten and
followed a set of ‘orders’ issued to them at different times of the day
and night. The one common denominator was to take the pupils out
of their comfort zone.
The pupils where dropped off by minibus and started to walk to
Loch Tay; en route they were put through their paces via team
challenge tasks run by both the Royal Marines and College staff.
On arrival at Loch Tay the pupils undertook a refreshing swim to
gain information pertinent to day two. Post-swim it was then
down to them to construct their home for the night, to cook dinner,
and to deliver a five-minute performance to the rest of the groups
(these have become more entertaining with each passing year).
Day two started much earlier (around two hours after day one
finished). The pupils loaded up their two-person sit-on kayaks and
paddled to the end of the loch where they jumped on to College
transport and were taken to a holding location in Aberfeldy where
they were given a cooked breakfast.
Post-breakfast they had a variety of activities to undertake,
including a roped river rescue scenario over the Birks of Aberfeldy,
canyoning, mobile climbing wall, inflatable assault course with
a twist, mind memory exercises with the Marines, and first-aid
From Germany
to Glenalmond
casualty simulation run by Mountain Rescue.
From Aberfeldy, the pupils re-boarded College transport for a
journey to within 4km of their final night’s camp. Upon arrival,
shelters were built, food was devoured and sleep descended all
around (for staff and pupils!).
The final day kicked off at 5.00am with the command to infiltrate
Glenalmond via the famous White Bridge. Upon arrival they met a
friendly agent and were asked to cross the bridge, which had them
facing off against Dr Evil’s henchmen amongst smoke and loud
theatrical effects.
After escaping the clutches of the henchmen, the pupils made their
way to the rugby pitches where, as promised, a Royal Navy Sea King
Search and Rescue Helicopter arrived.
The whole exercise culminated in a formal dinner in Hall with
various speeches, including one delivered by Barry Davidson from
Perth YMCA, bringing the exercise to a close.
M C D Nichols
By the age of 15, Freya Von
Rautenkranz was sure that she wanted to
study abroad and learn fluent English.
While the Von Rautenkranz family were
considering educational options from their
home in Hanover, Lady Luck stepped in.
Freya explains: “My father has a property
in the city and his tenant just happened to be an OG,” (Max Rexrodt,
Matheson’s 1998-2002). Max said: “’How about Glenalmond?’”
And so it was that on Fireworks night in November 2012 the
family found themselves guests of the College. Freya was nervous,
“my English was poor,” but quickly noticed that there was a really
friendly atmosphere and everyone seemed to know one another.
“Teachers and pupils came up to us and asked if I was going to join
the school and I was really impressed. And I don’t mean the
weather!”
That atmosphere in Home particularly appealed to Freya: “It was
really busy and all the girls seemed very happy. I met one girl who
was only there for one term and was really sad to be leaving. I am
very close to my parents and leaving home was a really big deal so
the family environment was a great attraction.”
In Hanover, Freya was at a state school with nearly 2,000 pupils. A
1970s concrete building in the city, it was a very different beast to
Glenalmond. “I couldn’t get over Hall,” she said, “so big and so Harry
Potter!” Another difference was the uniform. At home, Freya’s
school didn’t insist on uniform, so “I was happy to wear the long skirts
and jackets… less to think about in the morning!” Did the idea of
going to Chapel every morning faze her? “No, I quite like that the
whole school gets together each morning, it sort of bonds everyone.”
The curriculum at Glenalmond differed greatly from that in
Germany. There, Freya explains, many more subjects have to be
studied: “There’s far greater scope for individual learning at
Glenalmond.” This helped a talent for Art to flourish. “At home I
had always enjoyed drawing but had never viewed it as a school
subject. Mr Wang immediately encouraged me to pursue my
interest.” This manifested itself in an A-level portfolio specialising in
sunburn and skin cancer. “My grandfather, who I was very close to,
died from cancer in 2006 so I was very passionate about the work.”
Another subject that captured her imagination was History. “Dr
Mundill was so chilled and just made you want to learn,” explained
Freya. One lesson in particular stood out. “Because my English
wasn’t so good he acted out the Battle of Hastings and really brought
it alive, that helped me visualise it.”
Not so clear-cut were the vagaries of Scottish country dancing. “I
loved the St Andrew’s Ball but I found the dancing very confusing
and kept tripping over my long dress!”
So, after all this hard work and fun what now for Freya? “I have
always wanted to be a midwife,” she says, “it’s the best job in the
world.” Training began in Dresden in September and lasts for three
years followed by one year at university to finish her degree. “I love
the idea of a job that combines sensitivity and motivation.”
And what memories of Glenalmond will be taken to the hospitals
of Germany?“ My two years at Coll gave me a great sense of
community, team spirit and a strong work ethic.” I’ve made friends
from all over the world who I will definitely keep in touch with.” Any
regrets? “Yes, I never did learn all the words to the Carmen!”
Mairi Fraser
Community
Service
Conservation
On a Wednesday afternoon, the gangs
congregate at the old boathouse to receive
assignments – clearing paths, building embankments, making bridges and the like. The pupils
perform a service for the College but it seems
that they enjoy the break from academic life to
spend an hour or so in the beautiful countryside
that surrounds Glenalmond, regardless of
weather, mud or nettles.
This year’s pupils have been particularly
cheerful, resourceful and resilient. The winner
of the Conservation Prize was Harry Lord, who
was never shy of marching into a bed of nettles
or hauling a tree trunk behind him like Hagrid.
Also of note were George Page and Sean
Grieve who were usually first to attend and
always enthusiastic.
Paths have been opened up that connect
the College to the public footpath that leads
to Amulree and beyond, but there are also
circular walks that offer good rambling.
Many compliments have been given by
members of the public who value the walks.
My thanks to Craig Henderson, Mike
Allnutt and Lauren Howden for giving up
their time to supervise the gangs.
We are saddened by the passing of Yuri
Lavygin who received the Conservation
Prize two years ago. Yuri’s steps still work
their way down to Sheepwash and will need
attention from the next gangs to come.
Among the tall trees and running water is a
good place to sit and remember.
D M Smith
Once again, approximately 20 Lower Sixth
Form pupils participated in our Wednesday
afternoon Community Service programme,
with many of them using this as an element of
their Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award. The
annual Christmas Tea Party is enjoyed by a
variety of people from the local community,
many of them resident in care homes. This
year’s Community Service projects were based
at the following places:
•
•
•
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•
•
•
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Ancaster House Care Home, Crieff
Bike Station, Perth
Giraffe Trading Shop & Café, Perth
Logiealmond Primary School
Methven Primary School
Ochil Care Home, Perth
Pitcairn Primary School
St Columba’s Church, Crieff
St Serf’s Church, Comrie
Shelter Charity Shop, Crieff
Shelter Charity Shop, Perth
Soughton Smallholding, Blackruthven Farm
The Rev’d G W Dove
100-Mile Walk 2015
Eight girls and six boys, post-GCSE, took
part in this year’s epic walk. They chose
‘Pencils of Promise’, an American charity that
builds schools in developing countries as their
beneficiary, raising £8,000 (which is a third of
a school)!
Saturday, 20 June saw us breakfasting at the
McDonald’s in South Queensferry, and then
posing for photos at the Forth Bridge headquarters, before setting off. The noisy walk
over the bridge passed quickly, then we
turned right onto the Fife Coastal Path. We
then walked 83 miles round Fife to the Tay
Bridge over the next four days.
We camped for the four nights at the home
of Jamie and Jane Spencer-Nairn, near Cupar.
Ideally situated for the walk, it was never more
than 30 minutes drive for the morning or
evening drop off or collection. Our breakfasts
were at the house (SPE up at 5.30am!) then
lunches and dinners were provided by a
variety of helpful – and much appreciated –
parents. Saturday ended at Kirkcaldy, then
back to the S-Ns for Georgie Flowers’ mum’s
dinner. A variety of shell-shocked walkers
licked their wounds and their dinner plates.
Sunday saw us walk from Kirkcaldy to
Elie, with Marc MacIntosh’s parents
providing a lovely lunch near Leven Golf
Club, and a great sit-down dinner was had at
Rory Sandison’s parents holiday home. Mr
Sandison met us at Elie the next morning to
return items left the night before (!), then on
we went to Fife Ness and turned North to
Boarhills. Fergus Barker’s mum brought
lunch, and Jenny Cochrane’s mum provided
supper for us.
Tuesday was Boarhills to the Tay Bridge,
with Eleanor Skinner’s mum bringing lunch,
and Edward Grierson’s mum bringing
supper. By now Hannah Boag and Olivia
Wise were dubbed ‘The Zinc Oxide
Princesses’, Eddie G was ‘Ready steady
Eddie’ as he was always first on his feet.
Adam Loudon’s highlight was eating lunch
while unaware he was sitting on doggy-doo,
Rory was Mr Strawberry, and Henrik
Hopmann was ‘Helpful Henrik’.
That only leaves Ailsa Conway, Annie
MacLughlin and Emily Jarron to mention, as
part of a strong, cohesive team, who were
notable for sticking together and helping each
other at all times.
Lastly, a big thank you to Mrs Janine Erdal,
who taught the whole team advanced levels of
foot treatments to be able to keep walking
mile after mile. She walked all 100 miles (and
is now up to 700 miles in total), her dog Cato
walked 80 this year, and Mr Patrick Erdal
walked from the minibus when possible, to
surprise them for a photo at various points.
(Earning the nickname ‘Sneaky Pat’!)
The final day came round surprisingly
quickly, a longer transfer this time, up to near
Little Glenshee for the final looping 17 miles.
This was covered in fine time, and then we
met the reception committee at Front Arch to
round things off, with many a tear being shed.
S P Erdal
Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards
The Award scheme continues to challenge
our Fifth and Sixth Form pupils, with
some great expeditions having taken place
this year.
36 pupils started their Silver award. 14
completed via the canoeing option: they
participated in a practice expedition on Loch
Tay and finished off with an assessment on
Loch Awe that provided them with some
windy experiences and lots of islands to
explore and camp on. 22 pupils chose to
undertake their expeditions by foot and will
complete their assessment during the
autumn leave-out.
In 2015 we have seen 25 pupils sign up for
the Gold Award. The canoeists completed
their assessment expedition on the Great
Glen, while the walkers’ assessment expedition
had to be re-scheduled to later this year due to
unforeseen circumstances.
Outdoor Learning
Monday Programmme
The Second and Third Formers have taken
full advantage of the Monday activity
programme, which provides many opportunities for them to try new activities and improve
their skill levels. The weather as ever provides
its own challenges, however we have risen to
the challenge and delivered Bushcraft in the
purpose built outdoor classroom, climbing on
the College’s outdoor wall and elsewhere,
kayaking in the College pool, orienteering,
team challenges, first-aid, pool kayaking,
tyroleans, slack lining and wide games.
Field Day
The Second and Third Forms took part in the
College’s two Field Days. They undertook a
walk for one of these and for the other they
had a choice of canoeing, climbing or mountain biking utilising some of the best terrain
and views the Highlands have to offer.
Tuesday/Thursday Programme
The Outdoor Activities games option is delivered to the Fourth Form and above on both
Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout all three
terms. This has proved popular with some
pupils signing up for both weekly sessions. As
in previous years, our Tuesday programme
has offered pupils the opportunity to build on
the skills and knowledge acquired in earlier
years, while Thursdays have seen us taking
the pupils further afield to enjoy some of the
best local climbing crags Perthshire has to
offer, along with mountain biking and paddle
sport sessions.
Weekend Options
Weekend trips have given the opportunity to
go climbing, paddling, mountain biking and
canyoning at various locations.
Camps
Second Form
This year’s camp took place on the banks of
the River Forth at Caledonia Military Base.
After some powerboat driving practice under
the bridges, the pupils took it in turns to drive
the three RIBs (Rigid Inflatable Boats) to
Inchcolme Island. On arrival we had a
windswept picnic lunch followed by exploring
the ruins. The camp concluded with a day of
activities at Fordal Firs Scout Activity Centre.
Third Form
As the pupils had enjoyed it so much last year,
we made a return to Gulabin Lodge Outdoor
Centre, Spittal of Glenshee, for another very
rewarding and enjoyable summer camp. The
pupils were exposed to lots of adventurous
activities and the sun even made an occasional appearance. Activities included mountain biking, shooting, archery, crag climbing
and abseiling, crate climbing, zip wire and
high ropes. Huge thanks to all the staff who
helped to make this camp so enjoyable
M C D Nichols
CCF
Foreword
By the Contingent Commander,
R Benson Cdr (CCF) RNR
All those associated with the Glenalmond
CCF were deeply saddened by the death of
Lt Robin Mundill during the summer holidays, following a short illness. Robin had
been an officer in the RN section since we
persuaded the MOD to reform it in late 2002.
He had run the section at his previous school
and had a great deal of experience, imagination and humour, which he put to good use at
Glenalmond. He became the o/c of our RN
section when I became Contingent
Commander and he was a great supporter of
the CCF as a whole. He will be sadly missed
by the officers and cadets who knew him.
The changes within the Army and 51
Brigade are starting to shake down and
although manpower cuts make it difficult for
the training team at Barry Buddon to provide
the same level of support as they did previously, Sgt Fellowes has done an excellent job
this year and managed to support our selfhelp camp at Wathgill for five days, meaning
that we could get 54 cadets onto the training
area and ranges firing both blank and live
rounds.
Lewis Rattray has been on another course
at Frimley Park and is now qualified to plan
and run exercises, allowing cadets to experience blank firing and the effect of pyrotechnics. We have also recruited Gemma Douglas
as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army section.
Both the RAF and RN have had problems
providing us with uniform for our cadets,
though both appear to have been a little more
successful towards the end of the year. It
would be nice to think that we can get each of
the three sections in a single uniform next
year. The RN section has had some fantastic
field day visits but with only one operational
RAF base in Scotland we may have to try to
send the RAF section south for the occasional
trip to see a fully active RAF station.
However, the Air Experience Flight will
continue to operate from Leuchars and our
cadets have had the opportunity to fly regularly. We hear that the gliders which operate
out of RN Condor at Arbroath will be fully
operational during next year.
I hope that we will be able to continue to
operate many of the CCF activities in a triservice approach and that when we have our
Biennial Inspection next May the cadets are
able to put on a good show for the Inspecting
Officer, who will be from the Royal Navy.
Army Section
After a week or two of the Michaelmas
Term, the new Fourth Form cadets were all
kitted out and ready to start with their military training. The annual night exercise took
place around the College grounds, learning
about basic movement by day and night, with
a demonstration on night noises and a mad
dash to get the cadets back to their Houses
before roll call!
October Field Day commenced with the
entire Fourth Form snaking up to the golf
course to build and occupy shelters. It is
something of an admin nightmare to equip 80
cadets with waterproofs, warm clothing,
sleeping bags, laymats and bashas (improvised military shelters)! Once the cadets had
finished building their shelters they got back
together in their sections and set-off as teams
under the control of their section
commanders around a circuit of the golf
course, putting together all the skills that they
had learned on the previous exercise. After a
5.30am reveille, they packed up and returned
to the College for a hot shower and breakfast
before a full day of military and leadership
activities under the control of the section
NCOs and staff.
The Fifth Form spent most of the
Michaelmas Term carrying out training for
their Duke of Edinburgh’s Silver Award expeditions. Once again, the award proved to be
very popular.
The Lent Term saw the start of the slow
process of getting the cadets up to weapon
handling training test standard (compulsory
prior to firing the weapon systems). This was
broken up with other activities, such as leadership, basic military skills and command
tasks, giving a welcome break from continuous weapon handling.
We put the Fifth Form cadets through the
new and very beneficial methods of instruction course – now known as the Cadet Force
Instructional Techniques course (CFIT).
The Trinity Term saw weapon handling
tests completed ahead of the May Field Day.
On the day, we saw the introduction of some
new military skills, such as platoon ambushes,
section attacks and training in built-up areas
(TIBUA), where cadets learned the skills of
how to attack a house under enemy occupation.
These new drills readied cadets for annual
camp, which was held during the last week of
term at Wathgill Training Camp in Yorkshire.
This gave the Fourth Form cadets a chance to
put their leadership and management skills
into practice – six were promoted to Lance
Corporal and put in charge of their own
sections of ten cadets. The camp went very
well with a lot of skills learned, such as leadership and man management. During their
time in the CCF the cadets acquire a whole
host of skills that will assist them in later life.
Capt. Abi Crockett
Fourth Form Camp
The CCF camp lasted for six days – we were
originally supposed to spend two nights
outside, one night sleeping in a small farmhouse and the other night in self-built shelters in a wood. However, because very heavy
rain was forecast for the second night, we
returned to Wathgill Camp (our main accommodation) for that night.
During the two days we were outside we
did different exercises which required teamwork and a lot of discipline. For example, we
had to go on patrols, carry our unloaded rifles
with us all the time, and were also required to
use a radio when we were on guard duty. For
those two days each person was given rations,
which we then cooked on our small cookers.
The next day was really special as we went
shooting on a range close to Wathgill Camp.
On Wednesday the staff organised a fun
competition between the different sections.
On the last day we visited 1st Battalion the
Scots Guards in Catterick and a REME unit.
I wasn’t just impressed by all the military
activities that were organised for us, but also
by all the social aspects and the great team
spirit that developed over the period of the
camp. I never felt disadvantaged by being an
international pupil. I was really pleased by the
way I was integrated and how close each
section worked together. I always felt safe
with the weapons due to the staff being strict
about the rules applying to them.
Auguste Medert
(IV, Lothian)
RN Section
The first Field Day of the year saw the
Fourth Form build shelters on the golf course
and spend the night bivouacking. After an
early rise, they joined the rest of the RN
section on a visit to HMNB Clyde at Faslane.
They visited the ship lift, where they were
able to view a Trident submarine - out of the
water for maintenance - from below and then,
after climbing three flights of stairs, from
alongside. They also visited the unit that operates the NATO submarine rescue equipment
- this is kept in a state of readiness to get the
submersible and ancillary equipment to the
nearest airport or seaport within hours of an
emergency. The cadets were privileged to be
able to go into the submarine simulator to
watch three potential submarine commanders
being put through their paces as part of the
‘Perishers’ course. Finally they visited HMS
Bangor, a mine counter measures vessel.
The Lent Term saw the Fifth Form undertaking preparations and training for their
Duke of Edinburgh’s Silver Award expeditions and some of them also joined the Army
section to do a course on how to prepare and
teach short lessons. In May, the Fouth Form
went down the Clyde from Greenock to
Rothesay and back navigating and stearing the
Omagh, which is a 25m long Fleet Tender.
One of them even took her alongside the jetty
on arrival!
Finally, Alex Milne took advantage of an RN
run powerboating course, as he describes
below:
“Through the CCF I was able to attend an
RYA Level 2 powerboating course at HMS
Raleigh, in Cornwall. The base is the main
training facility for naval ratings, schooling
members of the Royal Marines, the Royal
Fleet Auxiliary and the Royal Navy Reserve, as
well as training members of the CCF.
“Every morning we were woken at 6.00am,
marched to and from breakfast in uniform and
then changed to go out on the water. We went
down to Jupiter Point on the River Lynher,
where we were introduced to three basic
powerboats: Champ, Halmatic and RIB.
There we learnt about their characteristics,
checking for problems, and basic manoeuvring, but most importantly we were taught
about water safety.
“Though at first I was apprehensive as I had
never done anything like this before, the staff
and students at Raleigh were all extremely
kind and helpful, and I settled in very quickly.
The food and accommodation was amazing
and the course was an unforgettable experience. I would love to go back next year for
more courses, which range from first aid to
paddle sports to leadership. The CCF offers
endless opportunities that allow you to meet
new people as well as learn and have fun!”
R Benson Cdr (CCF) RNR
RAF Section
We in the RAF section have had a lot to
contend with of late. By far the biggest blow to
morale has been the closure of RAF Leuchars
as an RAF station. It has now been handed
over to the Army, and the Royal Scots Dragoon
Guards are in the process of moving in. After
15 years of taking cadets to RAF Leuchars, it
seems strange to see the RAF station sign
replaced by the Army logo. Now that RAF
stations Kinloss and Leuchars have both
closed, this just leaves RAF Lossiemouth way
up north on the Moray Firth, and even there
you will find only a handful of aircraft of 15(R)
squadron. How will this affect us? Well the
first thing to mention is that we now have no
parent station. A parent station issues clothing
among other things, so the Highland Reserve
Forces and Cadets Association are looking at
how to resolve this problem. We used to be
able to take cadets to RAF Leuchars for Field
Days, where we could visit the squadrons, and
generally get a taste of life on an RAF station.
Sadly, this will no longer be possible, and since
the RAF footprint in Scotland is now very
small, we will probably henceforth have to
travel south of the border to see any RAF
aircraft.
The other setback has been the grounding
of the RAF Air Cadet glider fleet. The fleet
was grounded some 18 months ago in order
to bring the service and maintenance schedules into line with the new MAA (Military
Aviation Authority) directives. The fleet is
beginning to slowly come back on line, as
instructors become current again. Some of
our cadets on camp flew the first Vigilant
sorties since the grounding.
We had 26 new recruits in September, with
the majority coming from the Fourth Form,
but with a few new recruits joining in the
Fifth and Lower Sixth Forms as well. We had
lots of flying in the Tutor, although no gliding
due to the grounding. Seven cadets elected to
stay on in the Fifth Form, and four in the
Lower Sixth Form, but for the first time we
had no Upper Sixth Form cadets. Let’s hope
that this is just a temporary blip. We have had
fewer cadets electing to attend RAF camp of
late, but this year we had six volunteers – the
highest number since 2010. In mid-July, Marc
McIntosh and Alex Coward attended the Air
Cadet Leadership Course at RAF Cranwell.
These are challenging times for the Air
Cadets in Scotland, but terrific opportunities
are still there for those who have an active
interest in flying and aviation in general.
RAF Camp
On the Sunday following Commem six
cadets – Thomas Gardner, Innes Gilling,
Matthew West, Marc McIntosh, Harry
Onslow and Alex Coward – headed off to
RAF Waddington for RAF camp. We joined
16 cadets from Abingdon School (with whom
we have camped twice before) and six cadets
from Old Swinford Hospital School. The
camp had been in some doubt due to the
extensive construction work going on at the
base, but accommodation was found at RAF
Cranwell just a few miles further south
(largely thanks to the determination and
perseverance of the nominated Camp
Commandant, Flt Lt David Temple of
Abingdon School and 612 VGS).
RAF Waddington is home to the RAF’s
ISTAR aircraft (or ‘platforms’ as the RAF
insist on calling them). ISTAR is Intelligence,
Surveillance, Target Acquisition and
Reconnaissance, and to fulfil this task the
RAF has some very specialist and secretive
‘platforms’. These are the E3-D Sentry
(airborne warning and control), the Sentinel
R1 (battlefield and ground surveillance),
Reaper MQ-9 (a remotely piloted vehicle
providing surveillance support and situation
awareness) as well as the highly secretive
Shadow R1 and Rivet Joint RC 135W aircraft
(the latter providing signals intelligence and
analysis). The cadets were able to visit all the
squadrons who operate these surveillance
and reconnaissance platforms and we
received briefings on their roles and, where
possible, some of their capabilities. The
cadets were particularly interested to know
all about the Reaper, and the officer giving
the briefing had to field some very good questions (well done Matthew), although on
several occasions the security classification of
Reaper meant that no answer was forthcoming! Alex was one of six lucky cadets (as
well as JAG who had to fly as a ‘chaperone’)
who were able to fly on a Sentry training
sortie. These sorties last around eight hours,
and offer a valuable insight into what these
crews do as regards airborne surveillance and
fighter control.
However, camp was not all about the
present. Lincolnshire has a rich aviation
heritage, and the area around Lincoln was
alive to the sound of aero engines during the
Second World War. We visited the Battle of
Britain Memorial Flight hangar at RAF
Coningsby, and the next day we went to the
former Bomber Command airfield of East
Kirkby where we saw the magnificent
Lancaster ‘Just Jane’ carry out an engine start
and taxi run. The cadets were genuinely
thrilled by the sight and sound of four RollsRoyce Merlin 60s being run up to 80% just in
front of them. We then paid a visit to the
bunker at nearby RAF Digby. This was a
sector control centre during the Battle of
Britain which controlled three squadrons in
12 Group. Here the cadets learned about the
importance of the world’s first fully integrated
air defence system that was created by Sir
Hugh Dowding in time for the Battle. We
also visited RAF Scampton where, among
other things, we were able to visit Guy
Gibson’s former office in what was once the
617 squadron hangar. The cadets were lucky
to meet a veteran Mosquito pilot who was
also visiting that day.
Flt Lt Temple managed to arrange for
twelve cadets to fly in the Vigilant motor
glider at nearby RAF Syerston. Marc, Harry
and Thomas were lucky to be offered flying
slots.
We had a very successful camp which
offered valuable learning experiences for the
cadets. The cadets behaved impeccably and
were a credit to their schools.
J A Gardner
Sqn Ldr RAFVR(T)
Sport
Playing for Scotland: Andrew O’Neill
and (below) Kaleem Barreto
Rugby
There is no doubt that this is an exciting
period for rugby at Glenalmond. We have
worked hard over the last few years to put in
place a strong framework and we have reaped
the rewards, with the 1st XV winning both the
Brewin Dolphin Plate and Shield finals, and
the Under-16 ‘A’ XV playing in the Brewin
Dolphin Shield final and semi-finals over the
last two years. The SRU has launched a new
format for schools’ rugby and we are pleased
to be part of the top-three conference setting,
positioned in the Blue Conference with
Fettes, High School of Dundee, Loretto, Bell
Baxter and Robert Gordon’s. We will also
maintain fixtures with Dollar Academy,
Edinburgh Academy and George Heriot’s, to
name a few. The school is very proud of its
position at the top table of Scottish schoolboy
rugby and we will strive to continue to punch
above our weight in the years to come.
The newly-created role of Director of
Rugby and the significant investment in the
development of Neish’s, along with a
proposed new Fitness Suite, demonstrates
our commitment to providing an excellent
rugby education for our pupils. We have a
holistic approach to supporting our pupils,
through nutritional advice, monitoring and
management of appropriate training
programmes, video analysis and rehabilitation
support. The revised structure for next season
will allow us to focus on the specific needs of
each and every boy, whether they love playing
the game for fun or have aspirations of
playing at the highest level. We are also
launching a new kit range for next season, and
have announced our intention for the 1st XV
to tour South Africa in the summer of 2016.
Our partnership with Perthshire RFC is
flourishing and we will again benefit from the
coaching expertise of Rory McKay and Andy
Cummins throughout next season. We will
also continue to provide boys with the opportunity to play in the Lent Term, in order to
continue their rugby development. We are
also looking to build upon our links with the
representative pathways. We have dramatically increased the number of boys involved
with regional and national rugby over the last
two years and we will continue to develop
positive and strong relationships with the
SRU at all levels. This approach has recently
seen Tom Galbraith playing a full part in the
Scotland Under-20 Six Nations campaign,
and Andrew O’Neill and Kaleem Barreto
playing for Scotland Under-16s in this year’s
Wellington Festival. As ever, we strive to
provide an outstanding rugby upbringing
within the framework of a balanced, all-round
education.
H G Thomas
“My three sons have enjoyed their rugby
immensely at Glenalmond. The College
nurtures a strong team spirit and has
achieved some excellent results over the last
few years. What is equally pleasing to see is
the way in which the 1st XV play, which is a
fun, exciting, all-inclusive brand of rugby!’’ –
Current Parent
1st XV
As the season unfolded it was clear that this
year’s XV were a talented group with the
potential to play some devastating rugby.
They were also prone to lapses in concentration and with a distinct ability to lose the
balance between attack and defence.
As we sought to find our rhythm, tempo
and balance, it developed into a season of
four distinct periods. We started the term
reasonably well with a win against Fettes in a
conditioned warm-up game, and with victories against Robert Gordon’s and North
Berwick interspersed with a narrow loss in
the cup to Edinburgh Academy; the results
were pleasing to some extent, but performance levels were sporadic. With Heriot’s and
Loretto late cancellations, we headed north
to Gordonstoun to face an unbeaten, physical
and committed outfit. A reasonably strong
performance saw Coll run out comfortable
winners, ending the second period of the
season on a high.
Part three proved to be the most challenging and difficult period. Two games were
postponed due to the weather and in a
distinctly unimpressive performance we
huffed and puffed our way past a belligerent
Hutcheson’s GS in the quarter-final of the
Brewin Dolphin Shield. We then suffered a
hugely disappointing defeat to Fettes. This
was by far our lowest point of the season;
although disrupted by a lack of rugby, it was
clear the team was far from reaching its
potential. With many front line players absent
due to injury, we suffered a heavy defeat to an
impressive and full strength Merchiston
outfit before heading to Edinburgh Academy.
Although we suffered another defeat, we
began to see the green shoots of revival – we
finally began to impress in attack and caused
a great deal of problems for the Academy.
Not only was this a highly entertaining game,
it proved to be the pivotal point of the season.
We returned to Coll to play the last ever
game on Neish’s as we knew it. After a positive week of training and some renewed
vigour from the senior players (fuelled by the
realisation that the season was stumbling to a
close) we approached the fixture against
Dollar with a positive, ‘backs to the wall’
mindset. This proved to be hugely motivational, as the side put in an outstanding
performance against one of the strongest
schools on the circuit, brushing them aside
38-0 to record the first win in recent memory
against the ‘all whites’. Not only was the score
line emphatic, the performance was
outstanding. It was a fitting finale for what
has been one of the best settings for
schoolboy rugby in the UK, though we are all
hugely excited by the prospect of a brand new
facility for next season.
This proved to be the start of a magnificent
final period of the season. We received the
toughest draw in the Brewin Dolphin Shield,
away to Robert Gordon’s, who we had only
beaten narrowly at home earlier in the
season. Amongst sleet and snow, we put in a
composed and confident showing, running
out 38-12 winners. This set up a show down
against the High School of Dundee in the
final at Murrayfield. It would be fair to say
that the first half performance was the best
showing from a Glenalmond XV in a generation. The boys were outstanding to a man and
produced a wonderfully vibrant and attacking
style of rugby that will be long remembered
by the large crowd in attendance, and fully
deserved their commanding 46-7 win.
Several clips are available on the website so
you can judge for yourself!
The side contained a good blend of senior
pros and some young and exciting talent.
Charlie Leckie and Roland Kossler were
outstanding in the front row and along with
Fergus Barne provided the platform for a
dominant scrum in all bar one fixture. Robert
Baldwin and Andrew O’Neill provided
contrasting styles and a wonderful balance in
the second row. The back row of Gordon
Porter, Duncan Wither and captain James
Renouf proved to be inspirational– a fantastic
tearaway trio who dominated breakdowns,
led by example and scored a huge amount of
points. Fergus Skinner and Blair Goodfellow
dominated the cup final and always gave us
control and direction at half-back. Dougal
Forsyth and Ruaraidh Leader were
outstanding in midfield and the back three of
Rory Prichard, Paul Ritch and Lewis
Goodfellow were always a threat. We also saw
a brief glimpse of the potential of Kaleem
Barreto in the semi-final and final – he will
develop into an outstanding player in the
years to come.
It has been an absolute pleasure to work
with this group. The Upper Sixth in particular
can be hugely proud of their contributions
and achievements over the last five years. It
has been a privilege to work with them.
Finally, to CSS: he has once again proved to
be a fantastic coach – the forwards have been
a dominant force this season and his humour,
wisdom and calming influence have been
invaluable.
H G Thomas
Under-16 ‘A’ XV
This season the Under-16s got better and
better – with a good nucleus of experienced
players, and several who moved from the
fringes to the core of the team, this was a year
of real progress. The hallmarks of the side
were fitness, bravery against often bigger
opponents, and a willingness to keep playing
together until the final whistle. On many
occasions, opposing coaches praised the team
for these qualities.
The first match proved to be something of
an anomaly: up against a strong St Aloysius
team boasting several representative players,
it was soon clear that Coll had only been back
playing together for a few days, whereas the
visitors had benefited from much longer
preparation. For what would be the only time
in the entire season, we were very much
second best and duly lost 14-22, despite two
good tries by Coward and O’Neill.
The setback was put firmly to one side,
however, as the team notched up handsome
wins against Robert Gordon’s (55-0), North
Berwick HS (24-5), Loretto (40-0) and
Gordonstoun (38-0). In these, the team
scored the majority of their tries through wellworked backs moves, but these would have
come to nothing were it not for the effort in
the loose of the forward pack, especially the
back row of Sandison, San and Dickson.
The final run-in of matches defined the
season: Fettes, Edinburgh Academy, Dollar
and Stewart’s Melville in the Shield semi-final.
It is to the boys’ great credit that they ground
out wins in the first two games, 20-10 and 17-5
respectively – the team showed huge reserves
of effort and desire, and no little skill from the
midfield trio of Robinson, Hogg and Sampson.
The match against Stew-Mel saw the team at
their best: a stormy day in the capital, with a
Murrayfield final at stake, the team played
sensible rugby, keeping it tight and drilling the
ball in the corners. In the end the winning try
was just out of reach, but the boys knew that
they could not have given more on the day.
The team was well captained by Barreto, one
of the great driving forces of the squad, and he
was ably assisted by several others across the
pitch. As individuals and a XV, the boys
improved enormously over the season, and
enjoyed their rugby along the way.
W R Davidson
Under-15 ‘A’ XV
The Under-15 ‘A’ squad was not blessed with
outstanding athletes who were going to dominate a season. From the start it was apparent
that teamwork and cohesive units were going to
be imperative. A lack of depth also meant that
players had to be flexible and be prepared to
adapt and sometimes play out of position. To
their great credit, the squad developed their
performance and made significant progress,
returning with four wins and a draw from ten
matches.
Robert Gordon’s presented a very tough start
as Coll were outplayed by a robust and athletic
side with a couple of games under their belt.
However, some respite was to come against
North Berwick and Loretto. Weaker opponents
created the opportunity to find some structure
and develop patterns of play and an aura of
confidence developed within a seemingly
fragile side prior to a confrontation with
Gordonstoun. The team showed incredible
bravery in confronting a physically intimidating side – fly-half Rafe Houston produced
some magical scores to see Coll in the lead in
the final minutes, before a last gasp try from
the visitors enabled them to level the scores.
The second half of term was a rollercoaster.
A hugely improved Earlston side demonstrated the benefits of a healthy club/state
school link in dominating Coll. Hard to take,
but if the game is to develop in Scotland this
progress has to be admired. Fettes were a
tough challenge and Strathallan were too
strong in all areas for the XV to really
compete. Within this period the squad
produced superb performances to beat a
Merchiston XV by 21-7 and Edinburgh
Academy (with a host of players exploring
different positions by necessity) by 16-5. The
final game against Dollar saw Glenalmond at
their most unpredictable, giving away easy
scores but replying with some thrilling efforts
from unlikely circumstances. Perhaps a
glorious defeat was a reflection of a season
that had been enjoyable and rewarding in
many ways.
M J Davies
Under-14 ‘A’ XV
This was a memorable and rewarding
season. Favourable weather in early
September enabled the coaches to cover a lot
of ground and it was approaching dusk when
some of the training sessions ended, but
shape and structure had to be worked on with
a new batch of enthusiastic boys in preparation for the opening fixture.
First match – a trip to Robert Gordon’s; the
team had to defend for long periods before
we romped home with three fabulous late
tries created from deep for a richly deserved
away victory (21-10). After that bruising
encounter, the XV played with growing confi-
dence and style as opponents were brushed
aside. Four comfortable victories followed
against North Berwick (35-0), Loretto (35-3),
Gordonstoun (35-9) and Earlston HS (24-3).
All of these matches saw the XV demonstrate
a range of attacking options, especially from
the back row who were involved in every
aspect of play.
Defensive weaknesses, especially after two
or three phases, became evident in defeat
against a rampant Fettes team; we were outpaced and out-thought at the breakdown
against the best XV on the circuit as we went
down (0-26) in Edinburgh. We bounced back
quickly and secured enough quality possession
to threaten Merchiston but superior execution
warranted their win (3-18). A titanic battle
against Strathallan, in front of many parents,
resulted in a draw (7-7). We returned to
winning ways at Howe of Fife (34-7), but
narrowly succumbed in a tough, physical
encounter at Edinburgh Academy (6-7).
Perhaps the most complete performance of
the season was the away win at Dollar Academy
(16-4) on a frosty December morning.
The strength of the XV was the pace and
athleticism of the back row. In Tom Porter
(captain), James Houldsworth and Ben
Morrison, the XV had a terrific combination
whose collective work rate was as good as any
combination I have witnessed in Under-14
schoolboy rugby.
When we won ball and broke through,
there was a real hunger to cross the gain-line
quickly and at pace. When we had to defend
for prolonged periods of time, an impressive
degree of resilience and sheer determination,
and improved tackling technique, were
pleasing to observe. The core of this group of
keen, competitive and talented boys will
enjoy continued success on the rugby field,
but they need to be more focused in training
if they are to collectively fulfil their playing
potential.
J C Robinson
Girls’ Hockey
1st XI
This was a very interesting season,
comprising 39 training sessions and 11 games
from start to finish. Last year, we developed
two clear messages to the girls: increase the
work rate in training, and increase the tempo
by applying simple philosophies. This year,
the squad demonstrated a real desire to win
and willingness to work hard for each other. I
was truly impressed with their spirit; all the
girls got on with one another and displayed a
good work ethic.
A key objective this year was to work hard
on the speed we play at – both tempo on the
ball and pressure off the ball. Introducing the
girls to video analysis made an impact on how
we evaluated team performance - empowering the players to review individual and
team clips was a very positive development.
Two particularly memorable matches were
against St George’s and Strathallan. After
trailing 1-2 at half-time against St George’s,
we started the second half aggressively,
resulting in a number of great counter-attack
shooting opportunities. Annie Porter, Appin
Mackay-Champion and Eleanor Skinner
produced some of the best attacking hockey
of the season, the pressure eventually telling
in a series of short corners – two goals were
scored from set plays to take the girls ahead.
Probably the best move of the game then
sealed the victory (4-2). Away to Strathallan
we started with good shape and structure, yet
by ten minutes into the second half Coll were
behind 0-2. The girls fought back, Minnie
Murray-Poore slotting away a rebound from a
penalty corner. Both teams then went all out
for the win, resulting in a series of counterattack moves, with Jess Clark in goal making
a number of excellent saves from deflections
and rebounds. 55 minutes into the game, Coll
2nd XI
equalised with a well-worked move through
four passes into the circle, allowing Holly
Craven to slot the ball away on the back post.
Further chances came for both teams, but no
goals were scored. It was a great game
showing the character of the team.
Jess Clark had a fantastic season with three
‘player of the match’ awards; her ability to
make multiple reaction saves during big
games was vital. Eleanor Skinner, playing in
midfield and rotating into the forward line,
had a great season – dynamic, quick and
consistent, she also won three ‘player of the
match’ awards, and was selected for the
national Under-16 team. It was a great collective effort, however, and all the girls must be
praised and thanked for their contribution.
Special mention must go to the players
winning national and district representative
honours.
Thank you for making this a truly enjoyable
season, girls.
Squad: Georgie Flowers, Minnie MurrayPoore, Appin Mackay-Champion, Annie
Porter, Eleanor Skinner, Jess Clark, Izzy
Farquharson, Holly Craven, Laura GodfreyFaussett, Hannah-Jane Headon, Sophie
Ledingham, Catriona Loudon, Mollie
Maclean, Molly Sanderson
National squad selection: Appin MackayChampion, Eleanor Skinner, Susannah
Godfrey-Faussett
District squad selection: Minnie MurrayPoore, Annie Porter, Appin MackayChampion, Eleanor Skinner
D Stott
The standard of hockey on the 2nd team
circuit is high, and although this was a season
short of wins (with two from ten matches), it
never lacked determination or effort.
Captain Ailidh Richardson led the team
strongly from defence. Not one to be kept
down, she rallied the spirits of her teammates
and always insisted on 100% in training. I
would like to thank her on behalf of the team
for her commitment.
The defence – Jenny Cochrane, Ailidh
Richardson, Kitty Webster, Rachel Cobb and
Molly Sanderson – should be congratulated
on their efforts; at times in matches it felt like
they were under constant bombardment.
Holly Nisbet was amazing in goal – she
worked very hard all season (not to mention
keeping us thoroughly entertained). Holly
has made a significant contribution to hockey
at Glenalmond.
The midfield of Tora Joicey, Fiona
Williamson and Megan Bruce worked tirelessly, all playing a crucial role in both our
defensive and attacking strategies. Up front,
Jenna Goodfellow, Alexandra Bullard and
Beth Stephen should also be praised – they
are talented individuals with a lot to offer and
remained positive despite their frustration.
Well done to all the girls involved this season.
Miss Gemma Douglas
3rd XI
The highlights of the season were an impressive (7-0) victory over Loretto and beating the
Kilgraston 2nd XI (4-1) on their new pitch.
We played some strong hockey schools,
drawing with a feisty Fettes side and losing to
St George’s, George Watson’s, Strathallan and
very narrowly to Mary Erskine.
I thoroughly enjoyed coaching these lovely
girls.
Polly
Armstrong-Wilson
was
outstanding in goal, Emma Renouf and
Louisa Fergusson were the top goal scorers,
and Tara Houston and Poppy Izat were most
frequently our ‘player of the match’.
Mrs Sue Maclean
Under-15 ‘A’ XI
The Under-15 ‘A’ team had a superb season
under the diligent captaincy and excellent
skill level of Lorna Porter, winning ten of
their 12 matches. Victories came thick and
fast, including an impressive 3-0 away win
against Loretto, and a 5-1 win at home against
Strathallan. The final game of the season
showcased the girls at their very best with a 31 away win against Fettes, a truly superb
match with a team at the top of their game.
Along the way there were some impressive
individual performances from Ellie Kirkland,
Lucy Murray-Wake and Catriona San; all
players to keep a close eye on in future years.
It will also be some time before the school
sees a goal scoring duo like Rosie Forsyth and
Emilia Wasmuth again, scoring 37 goals
between them. The team played aggressive
hockey scoring a total of 49 goals over their 12
matches, averaging over four goals each
game. This is a truly driven group who love
their sport – they were a pleasure to work
with. I look forward with great anticipation to
what they can achieve individually and as a
team in their next three years at Glenalmond.
S M S Smith
Under-14 ‘A’ XI
With the new academic year comes freshfaced and eager Third Formers. It is up to us
to nurture and challenge them to become the
best possible players, and to encourage them
to love team sport and understand the benefits it brings.
From early on, their work rate was superb
and they showed an impressive strength of
character. Some early victories gave them
confidence and belief. Fabulous wins against
Heriot’s (2-1) and Mary Erskine (2-1) were
the highlights of the season. In all, seven of
the ten matches were won (with Fettes
beaten twice) with 24 goals scored and 15
conceded.
Although not her preferred position,
Lauren Dundee was calm and rock solid in
defence. In the midfield, Susannah GodfreyFaussett helped us control games – her
vision, hunger and drive were invaluable. Up
front, India Fraser and Violet McGrigor
shone with their pace and tenacity. Finally, in
goal Ella McIntosh was outstanding. These
individuals were superb, but the squad’s
success was based on an indefatigable team
spirit and camaraderie. I relished the challenge of working with this group and expect
them to go from strength to strength in the
coming years.
Under-16 Scottish Development Squad:
Susannah Godfrey-Faussett
Under-14 Midlands District Representatives:
Susannah Godfrey-Faussett, India Fraser,
Violet McGrigor, Ella McIntosh, Armorel
Robinson
Miss Carolyn Bircher
Lacrosse
1st XII
It was easy to select this year’s squad and
there was a good age spread over the three
senior years, which is great for development.
Glenalmond was hit by snow, but undeterred
we trained indoors, travelled to the football
pitch at Methven and the astroturf pitch at
Letham.
Our first match was a most encouraging
(15-1) win against St Leonards. Next up was a
trip to Loretto; feisty tackling and double
teams gave us possession and superb speed
up the pitch. It was 8-1 at half time, and
although we had a slight blip in the second
half, we finished with a good score (14-5).
Unfortunately, our fixture against St George’s
was cancelled, so it was then Fettes on Big
Lacrosse, which was in beautiful condition.
Brilliant quick passing up the pitch resulted
in goals from our high attack – Kitty Webster
and Sophie Ledingham – while Holly Craven
was our ‘MVP’. Our last regular school fixture
was Loretto away; we had a nervous start but
great play from the whole team saw us home
(10-4).
This was a great season, produced by a
fabulous group of girls who were committed
and fun. The girls were a very friendly and
cohesive group and there was no hierarchy in
the ranks. The brilliant trio of Mollie
Maclean, Holly Craven and Cat Loudon
played and led by example. Congratulations
to Tara Houston who was selected for the
Under-19 World Cup played in Edinburgh
this summer, and to Georgie Flowers and
Annie Porter who played in the Under-18
section.
A huge ‘thank you’ goes to the supporters’
club – you know who you are. Your support
on the lines has been fantastic and uplifting
for the girls. Thanks also to Charlotte
Pounder, our lacrosse assistant.
This year’s team are a contender for my
strongest ever, up there with my original
‘dream team’ of 2005, which won the UK
Small Schools’ tournament at Cirencester –
the jury is out, however!
Finishing with a tear in my eye, I wish the
upcoming girls at Coll the very best for the
future. Do the basics well, keep moving fast
and keep it simple.
Squad: Mollie Maclean (captain), Holly
Craven (vice-captain), Cat Loudon (vicecaptain), Kayleigh Donaldson (GK), Sophie
Ledingham, Rachel Cobb, Molly Sanderson,
Kitty Webster, Tara Houston, Fiona
Williamson, Izzy Farquharson, Sasha
Ogilvie, Anne Le Roux, Annie Porter,
Georgie Flowers, Ailsa Conway
Tournaments
Scottish Open Tournament, 21 January
We played four pool matches: against Fettes
(won 4-2), Sedbergh (7-1), Moreton Hall (the
holders – and winners again this year – lost
0-5), and Harrogate Ladies (2-0). We were
excited to get into the semi-finals and we
fought hard throughout a tough match
against Queen Margaret’s (QMS). It ended
4-4 after the allocated time, which led to extra
time which QMS won 3-0.
Under-19 National Schools Championships,
27-28 February
Having travelled down the day before, the
tournament started on a beautiful Friday
morning at Guildford Sports Park. We were
lucky to be drawn to play on pitch 1, where
the surface and umpires were excellent. First
up we faced last year’s champions, St
Catherine’s (who beat us 1-9), followed by
Coloma Convent School (5-0), Berkhamsted
(2-7), Abbot’s Hill (9-1), Benenden (1-4), and
St Helen School (5-0).
These results ensured we played in
Division 1 for Saturday’s play – a first for us,
but we knew that it would be tough. The
second day brought rain instead of sun, but
spirits were high. We lost all of our games, to
Haberdashers (1-5), QMS (1-3), St Albans (14), and Queen Anne’s (1-4).
Reaching Division 1 was a real achievement and although the matches were tough
they were very enjoyable and we came away a
stronger side. The girls were all fantastic and
a true credit to the school.
Many thanks to all the kind parents who
supported us, and provided food and drink,
and a special thanks to the Ledinghams for
providing us with a much needed tent for the
occasion – it was much appreciated.
Scottish Closed Tournament, 12 March
The SCT was always going to be a tight tournament, while the weather was inclement and
conditions difficult with rain throughout. At
half-time we found ourselves 1-2 down
against Loretto but came back to win 3-2.
The girls then played well against St George’s
and won 8-1. Our last match against Fettes
was the decider and it was very closely fought,
with Coll emerging 4-3 winners.
MacRobert Tournament, 14 March
Played at Peffermill in Edinburgh, the
MacRobert is a club/university tournament
not usually featuring schools. We were placed
in pool B and played the Scotland Under-18
team first and were delighted to win 7-1. The
girls were moving the ball really well and
looked very polished from the sidelines! Next
up was Capital, an Edinburgh club; the girls
were undaunted by the older players, they
played beautifully and won (7-2). We then
faced Edinburgh University (the eventual
tournament winners) and were put in our
place by a superb team (0-9). Finally, against
Aberdeen City, the girls bounced back to
produce a great performance and win 6-0.
This put us into the semi-final where we were
up against a very feisty Edinburgh Thistle
team. We frightened them in the first half,
but eventually lost 2-6.
The tournament proved a huge success and
it was great to finish the season on such a
high.
Mrs Sue Maclean
And a Farewell…
It is with sadness that I write this last lacrosse
report. I introduced the sport to Coll 18 years
ago. Glenalmond had only recently gone fully
co-ed and while the girls loved lacrosse from
the start, it took a few years to establish
ourselves on the scene. After our first breakthrough, confidence rocketed and we went
from strength to strength – winning the
Scottish Closed Tournament many times, the
Northern Small Schools Tournament on
numerous occasions, the UK Small Schools
twice, reaching the first division of the UK
National Championships – the first Scottish
school to do so – and beating the Scotland
Under-18 team.
It has been wonderful to be able to give
back to the sport after having got so much out
of it myself in earlier days.
I thought it would be fun to choose a team
Sue and Mollie Maclean
from over the years – this very talented group
of girls would be world beaters: Kirsty
Maclean, Laura Stoll, Lynsey Brunton, Lydia
Nicol, Gemma Sole, Hannah Preston, Chelsea
Frew, Katie Winton, Isobel Houston, Jemima
Murray-Poore, Michaela Macphie, Mollie
Maclean, Holly Craven, Sally Wright (GK),
Alix Whitaker (res. GK). Apologies if I have
left anyone out – selection was so very difficult!
Mrs Sue Maclean
2nd XII
The spirit of the 2nd XII was never in
question and they played with passion and a
feistiness that made me proud. With a few
carried over from last year’s squad and an
influx of Fifth Formers this was very much a
development year.
The first game, a win against St Leonards,
demonstrated the potential present. The four
games against Fettes and Loretto that
followed were extremely close, but sadly we
could not get the better of them either home
or away.
In defence, Georgie Horne and Rosi Dow
were as vocal and as frightening to the opposition as ever! In midfield, Jenna Goodfellow,
Arina Kobeletska and Tora Joicey controlled
many a game and did a fabulous job taking
the ball upfield from defence to attack. Top
scorer was Jamaica Radcliffe, Georgie Horne
was the most improved player, and our fabulous goalkeeper, Emily Simpson - who was
kept on her toes throughout - was the
coaches’ player of the season. Captain Tora
Joicey (the players’ player) and vice-captain
Marina Morgan led with gusto.
Many of the squad will be here next season
and we will no doubt lose some to the 1st XII.
They have been a pleasure to work with and
have impressed me immensely with their
spirit and enthusiasm.
Under-15s
The girls had a brilliant season, with
losses only to Fettes in extremely tight and
thrilling matches. They had to work hard on
their fitness and basic stick skills; the game
demands a high work rate, excellent communication and positive energy on the field. We
learnt about settling in attack, midfield transitions down the wing, recognising the fast
break, defending goalie clears, doubleteaming and working as a defensive unit.
Every training session the girls gave 100%,
which was reflected in their matches and the
maturity to their play.
Our best matches included beating Loretto
in the Under-15 tournament and our last two
matches against Fettes, where both teams
were very evenly matched and an extremely
high level of lacrosse was played.
The team never relied on particular individuals to succeed, every girl had a job to do
and all were equally involved. Their achievements were down to continual hard work, led
by captain Catriona San and vice-captain
Rosie Forsyth. There is a lot of potential in
the girls and I hope they continue to develop
further in their senior years.
Miss Charlotte Pounder
Under-14 ‘A’ XII
What a team and what a start to their
lacrosse careers at Glenalmond! Introduced
to their sticks in the Michaelmas term, the
girls took to lacrosse like ducks to water,
demonstrating huge effort and enthusiasm.
With much focused training the girls raised
their skills and awareness very quickly.
With the Lent term came their first game,
against St Leonards. They quickly took
control and finished with an encouraging 6-0
win. The next week they took on Loretto in
an excellent match, losing 5-8; it was evident
that neither the attack nor defence were
happy with their performance – I was pleased
to see the fire for victory was so strong! Again
taking on St Leonards, they secured the same
winning margin with great efforts from
captain Violet McGrigor. Goalkeeper Rowan
Heron should also be mentioned for denying
St Leonards’ best efforts.
This dynamic team won all their games but
two and capped a terrific season by winning
the St George’s Tournament.
Miss Gemma Douglas
Cricket
1st XI
Over 200% more rain than normal fell in
Perthshire during July. However, prior to that
conditions created ample opportunities for
cricket. The XI had a wealth of experience, the
great majority having toured Antigua in 2013
or played in the Under-15 Scottish Cup
winning teams. Somewhat ironically, the two
performances in Twenty20 (T20) cricket were
disappointing: a warm-up game at the start of
the season against Loretto and a contest at
George Watson’s resulted in losses when
dominant positions had been achieved. In the
national T20 three attempts were made to play
Stewart’s Melville with the game eventually
being won on the toss of a coin. However, the
next round was conceded to Dollar – had Coll
been successful, examination commitments
would have denied an opportunity to play in
the finals day. The abbreviated version of the
game has great appeal to the players, but
unfortunately the realities of varied examination systems and inclement weather demand a
re-think of this 1st XI competition.
At the risk of adopting clichés this was definitely a season of two halves. With the exception of a dominant performance against the
OGs, with Tom Stodart making a fine 91 and
Fergus Barne taking 4-11, the 1st XI up to
mid-May were very disappointing. Three
consecutive losses to MCC, Watson’s and
Strathallan revealed limitations that had been
exposed in previous seasons – whilst the XI
could offer a varied and penetrative attack, the
batting continued to be inconsistent. The
middle order were too frequently failing to
produce partnerships and responding to the
game situation. However, the Dollar fixture
proved to be the watershed as the final four
weekend fixtures played were won in fine
style.
The Stodart brothers provided the catalyst
against Dollar – Tom making a solid 59 and
Jock on debut taking 5-26. Important contributions from Gordon Porter (38) and Dougal
Forsyth (6 overs for 4 runs) ensured that confidence was restored in a comfortable victory.
The momentum was maintained at Stewart’s
Melville with Ruaraidh Leader producing a
fine spell (4-19) and Blair Goodfellow (34)
leading the successful run chase. There was a
determination and will to finish in a flourish
and Fettes were confronted with Coll at their
best. Tom Stodart (50) and Blair Goodfellow
(90) both batted magnificently before the
bowling attack had a stranglehold on the
Fettes response. 1st XI left-arm debutants
(Cliff and Hartley-Metcalfe) and Thomas
Godfrey-Faussett showed great potential. The
finale on Sunday against the High School of
Junior Development XI
2nd XI
Glasgow saw a very young XI comfortably
chase a target that suggested the future should
be bright as the old guard depart.
The XI was dominated by the performances of two players. The captain, Blair
Goodfellow, grew into the role with his
laconic style. He scored 249 runs at an
average of 31 – providing the backbone to the
batting in the latter part of the season. He
was also part of a fine seam bowling attack
that constantly posed problems – with Porter,
Forsyth, Leader and Barreto offering great
support. Tom Stodart kept wicket with developing style and efficiency. He was somewhat
unorthodox with the bat but showed great
tenacity and determination in amassing 302
runs at an average of 37.75 – the best return
from a Coll batsman for many years. There
are a number of players returning next year
who are still to produce the runs in the
middle order – they should reflect on the
achievements of these two players.
Glenalmond certainly has the players
returning next year to be a dominant force on
the Scottish circuit.
Results
Loretto (T20)
Old Glenalmonds
MCC
George Watson’s (T20)
Strathallan
Dollar
Stewart’s Melville
Fettes
High School of Glasgow
Lost by 7 wickets
Won by 120 runs
Lost by 102 runs
Lost by 28 runs
Lost by 67 runs
Won by 103 runs
Won by 9 wickets
Won by 50 runs
Won by 7 wickets
Squad: D A N Forsyth, B S Goodfellow
(captain), A G Porter (vice-captain),
R W P Leader, T H K Stodart (vice-captain),
K A Barreto, I R G Craig, J D Bing, F M J
Barne, F H B Godfrey-Faussett, C E A
Robinson, W J K Stodart
M J Davies
This was a very successful season for the
2nd XI with all but one match won. We had
good victories against Merchiston, George
Watson’s, Dollar, Strathallan and Loretto.
The match against Strathallan was one of
the closer games: Coll batted first and scored
103, the bowlers then played their part
bowling Strathallan out for 95. We had a similarly close match against Stewart’s Melville but
unfortunately in this case fell eight runs short.
The highlights of the season were Jordan
Chatt taking five wickets against George
Watson’s and Johnny Bing scoring 56 at
Stewart’s Melville. Thanks must go to Tom
Douglas and Aurele Armstrong-Cerfontaine
who both ably captained the team - their experience and guidance played a huge part in the
overall success of the team.
G G O’Neill
Junior Development XI
This was another successful campaign for
our strongest Junior XI in the national T20
competition and the festival that takes place in
the last week of term. After two impressive
warm-up wins against Dollar and Strathallan,
we made the short journey to Doo’Cot park to
retain our regional T20 crown. We have held
this title for six years and were in no mood to
lose out to local rivals Strathallan in the final.
We didn’t bat particularly well but the bowling
and fielding were of the highest quality as we
ended up winning by 50 runs.
Two weeks later, it was national finals day –
we were drawn against familiar foes
Merchiston in the semi-final. The boys
responded in style and put in a fantastic
bowling display dismissing our rivals for 83. We
made quick work of chasing the total and
cruised to a six-wicket victory in the 13th over.
Arbroath CC were waiting in the final. After a
positive start with the bat from Arbroath, we
took control, bowling them out for 71. The
Boys’ Hockey
1st XI
result was never in doubt as we moved to a
seven-wicket win in only the ninth over. Both
games were won by superb team performances
with contributions from across the group.
This set us up nicely for the annual festival
with Merchiston, King’s Bruton and
Nottingham High School. After a poor
performance on day one against Merchiston,
the boys bounced back with an emphatic
victory against King’s Bruton before the rain
came on day three.
The side made great progress over the
season and won many plaudits for the manner
in which they approached their cricket.
Thomas Godfrey-Faussett (captain) and Jock
Stodart (vice-captain) both deserve special
mention for not only leading this group in such
style, but also for representing the 1st XI
during the season.
H G Thomas
Under-14 ‘A’ XI
This was a very successful season, both in
terms of matches won and in the way the team
progressed. A final tally of played seven, won
six, makes for very good reading, not least
because in the two tight finishes Glenalmond
came out on top on both occasions.
The team was fortunate in having a squad of
fourteen boys, most of whom could bat and
bowl, and some of whom could do both very
well. The top order of Mackay-Champion,
Laird, Llew Porter, Kinge and Maxwell often
had enough craft and firepower to either set a
solid platform or overhaul a target, while the
variation of the bowlers rarely allowed the
opposition to get into a rhythm.
Laird and Llew Porter opened the bowling
with control and accuracy, and whilst Maxwell
snared the most wickets (11), they were well
supported by Morrison and Ben Porter. Llew
Porter captained the side calmly and fairly.
Highlights were the comfortable home and
away wins over Strathallan, and the final two
matches at Coll: a narrow 13-run win over a
very competitive Tayside & Fife Under-13 side,
and a gripping finish against Fettes. Going into
the final ten overs, the visitors needed 70 runs
to win – a very achievable target on the
compact San Pitch. This was whittled down to
30 from the last 18 deliveries, but Llew Porter
and Will Laird scotched the comeback, Porter
with a superb slower ball to bowl their well-set
batsman, then Laird with two bowled wickets
in two balls. This win neatly summed up the
season: all eleven players focused and energetic, and ultimately successful.
W R Davidson
The squad demonstrated a real desire to
win and willingness to work hard for each
other. The team spirit was evident – all the
boys got on with one another, displayed a
good work ethic and worked hard on the
training ground. It should be noted that this
was a young team with seven of the squad
stepping up from last year’s Under-15 XI – all
made a valuable contribution towards the
side’s development and performance.
A big emphasis was placed on scoring
outfield goals, shooting and circle structure
when attacking, and trying to develop our
front line shape whilst making sure we had
the confidence to get into specific areas in
and around the back post and penalty spot,
which are the positions that offer maximum
opportunities. We scored 43 goals in our
competitive games and 36 goals materialised
from outfield play and seven from penalty
corners – a productive return and testament
to our training ground activities.
The standout match this year was a home
victory against George Watson’s, who went on
to win the Scottish Cup. We lost to Robert
Gordon’s in the Plate final. We saw great
individual performances from Nicolas
Kuehne, who is now back in Germany representing the national Under-18 team; Rory
Prichard, who was electric during games,
teasing the opposition with his pace and
dazzling skills; Fergus Skinner (voted player
of the season), who was brilliant in defence
and has the ability to play international
level hockey; Jack Cross (voted the most
improved player), who grew in maturity; and
finally goalkeeper Charlie Hogg, who was
outstanding.
Special mention must go to all the players
selected for national teams and the district
championship.
Results
Edinburgh Academy
St Leonards
Merchiston
Gordonstoun
George Watson’s
Strathallan
Gordonstoun
Robert Gordon’s
Fettes
Lost
Won
Won
Won
Won
Lost
Won
Lost
Lost
2-3
6-2
9-0
10-0
4-3
1-2
7-1
3-4
1-5
National team representatives: Nicolas
Kuehne, Germany Under-18; John Stephen,
Scotland Under-16 development squad
Midlands Under-18 representatives:
Charlie Robinson, Fergus Skinner,
Alistair San, Jack Cross
Midlands Under-16 representatives:
Lorne Robb, Johnny Roberts, John Stephen
and Jamie Arnaud
D Stott
Golf
The year has seen further high-level performances, with the team winning the Perth &
Kinross Schools’ Championships at the King
James VI course in Perth, and Will Porter
becoming the Scottish Boys’ Champion at
Dunbar and being selected for the Scotland side
to play in the World Championships in Japan.
Our links with Dean Robertson at the Stirling
University Golf Centre are now embedded and
provide 15 or so players with good support. Two,
Andrew Gibson and Will Porter, were invited to
play in Stirling University’s ‘junior’ team in a UK
College invitational competition played at
Dundonald Links.
The OG Golf Society continues to provide
fabulous support for Coll golf. They help
subsidise training and compete in four
matches a year with the pupils, at Elie,
Muirfield, Panmure and Cairnies. In addition,
we had the Wayfarers’ Schools match played
between the OGGS and the school on the Old
Course at St Andrews in May. The results were
mixed for the school, but there was a win at
Panmure to celebrate.
The season saw a record number of school
fixtures played and the development of more
junior golf matches, opponents included
Merchiston, Gordonstoun, Strathallan, Fettes,
Dollar, Robert Gordon’s, St Leonards and
Loretto.
In the Michaelmas Term the boys had a minitour to Moray to play Gordonstoun in the first
round of the ISGA matchplay competition. We
The ‘soloists’
took four players and had two days of great
golf, including a 2-1 win in the crucial match.
This was followed by some good performances in the ISGA Scottish Open at King’s
Acre, where Jordan Chatt was our bestplaced player with 74. We had a harder day at
Elie, where the team struggled to match the
firepower of the OGs. We ended the term
playing the second round of the ISGA
matchplay competition at Montrose. Despite
losing to Robert Gordon’s, it was a pleasure
to be playing without mats on a lovely day in
December: a rare event indeed!
The Lent Term routines of range practice
at Noah’s Ark or Gleneagles gave way to
competitive golf in early March. Muirfield is
always a great experience for the team and
the hospitality makes the day one to savour,
despite being well beaten by the OGs.
Andrew Gibson and Cameron Grieve were
both included in their respective age groups
for Perth & Kinross ‘A’ teams, whilst Will
Porter continued to play for Angus County
‘A’ team. Campbell Gibson was also selected
for the Perth & Kinross ‘B’ team.
In the Trinity Term, Coll won the Perth &
Kinross Schools’ Championships, led by
captain Andrew Gibson (73), and supported
by Jordan Chatt (76) and Campbell Gibson
(80). Andrew also won the P&K county
matchplay and strokeplay championships, and
so had a great trio of medals. We also had
junior games against Gordonstoun (at
Cairnies and a good win), Fettes and Loretto,
allowing some of our younger pupils to gain
competitive experience, and hosted the
Under-15 Central Scotland Championships at
Cairnies, with 30 youngsters competing on a
day that was unfortunately a little wet and
windy.
Will Porter, who plays off a plus 2 handicap, had an amazing 12 months, winning the
prestigious Scottish Boys’ Championships at
Dunbar and being selected for Scotland’s
team to play in Japan. Will is a very balanced
and grounded young man, and he will be
captain of golf for 2015/16. We thank our
outgoing captain, OG golf scholar Andrew
Gibson, for his leadership and support to the
juniors this year.
Lower Sixth Former Isobel Chua, who has
a single figure handicap, has brought a female
dimension to Coll golf. Not only did she
compete for the school, she also joined Will
Porter in the ‘36-hole’ Scottish Schools’ Golf
Championships at Murrayshall, Perth.
The depth and quality of golfers in the
school is growing and we hope that the
successes this year will encourage others to
join us. The Cairnies course has seen some
significant investment in manpower aimed at
improving the drainage, and with a new
greenkeeper we are now seeing a course
showing signs of looking at its best. Thank
you to all our partners for their commitment
to Glenalmond golf this past year.
P J Golden
The Glen Girls’ Challenge Triathlon is one of the most eagerly awaited events
in Coll’s sporting calendar. Some do it as a team and some solo: this year four
fabulous girls took on all three parts of the challenge - an 800m swim in the pool,
a 4.5-mile cycle around the glen, and a 2.5 mile run in the grounds of the College
– with over 80 taking part as team triathletes. Conditions were perfect, the
competitors were briefed and ready, and music helped to create an electric
atmosphere on Front Slopes. Lauren Dundee was out of the pool first in a new
record time, fastest on the bike was Catriona San and fastest on the run was
Susannah Godfrey-Faussett (again, both in record times). Particular mention
should go to our four individual triathletes, however: Annie Porter (individual
winner), Lola Burg, Molly Sanderson and Jess Clark. Thank you to all the girls for
helping make this such a special event.
Skiing
The Michaelmas Term saw Charlie
Aldridge training two nights a week. His
training paid off at the Skier/Boarder Cross
event at Braehead indoor slope in November
when he came fourth out of a field of 74. At
the same event Blair Fraser came 12th and
Angus Livingstone 45th; for the girls, India
Fraser came sixth and Holly Ritchie 32nd.
The Lent Term saw races in Scotland and
the Alps. In the boys’ Glencoe qualifier for
the Scottish Schools, Charlie came fourth out
of 34, Dougie MacKenzie 15th, and Angus
20th. (As only the top team in each category
went through to the final they were knocked
out.) In the experienced category of the girls’
qualifier at Glenshee, India came fifth out of
32, Natalie Klee 20th, and Lena Schulte 24th.
In the novice girls, Holly came 15th out of 20.
The girls’ teams then went to Flaine for the
British Girls’ Championships, with Mrs
Janine Erdal, accompanied by Natalie’s
mother who was a great help. This was the
first time that we have entered two girls’
teams in the event, which is indicative of the
growing depth of ability at Coll. The ‘A’ team
was Natalie, India and Lena, and the ‘B’ team
was Holly and Anastasia Nairn, who
thoroughly enjoyed the event. The big news
was India’s results in the Under-14 category,
gaining Bronze in the Giant Slalom (GS), two
Silver medals – in the Slalom (SL) and
Overall – and three Golds in the Under-14
Unregistered Racer category! A superb
performance by any standard.
The boys’ team competed at Meiringen,
under the wing of Mrs Aldridge. They had
their day of training and then Monday was
the GS, and Tuesday the SL. To quote
verbatim from the text I received from Claire
Aldridge: “I’m so excited I can barely write
this, Charlie (Under-14) and Felix
(Schaebbicke) (Under-18) Bronzes in GS.
Dougie (Under-14) second, unregistered
racer for combined GS and SL, and 3rd in
school team cup. Felix won the BASI cup!!!
Amazing results!” The fourth member of the
team, Adria Lopez-Escoriza, fell in the GS
second run, but finished a creditable 10th/58
in the SL. Mrs Aldridge was especially full of
Junior Netball
praise for Felix, as the senior member of the
team, who looked after the younger members
with real care and attention, and for this he
deserves our thanks.
So a successful year, and we plan to build
on this by sending budding racers to a weeklong training camp in Bormio during the
October half-term.
S P Erdal
In the February half-term, 20 pupils went
to Club La Santa, Lanzarote for high level
training in the warmth. The three sports we
were invited to do were tennis, swimming
and athletics, all of which were a great
success.
As well as four hours of daily training at
the complex, there were a variety of extra
activities to take part in, from zumba and
yoga to fitness classes and early morning
gymnastics. Over the course of the week we
also took part in a triathlon competing
against experienced athletes. Some did
extremely well in completing this alone.
After the intensity of our sessions we were
often able to squeeze in a bit of relaxing time
in the sun by the pool. Everyone bonded
well and at our final dinner we all shared lots
of laughter and great memories.
Ailsa Conway (V, Cairnies) & Jenna
Goodfellow (V, Cairnies)
Such a talented group of netballers has not
been seen for a while at Glenalmond,
including six girls playing district netball.
Athletic, cohesive and united in their ambitions, the Under-15 team was disciplined and
authoritative. Particular mention should go to
Maja Sikora (GD) and Jules Porter (GA),
whose dominance of the court often caught
the opposition off-guard. In a season with
three wins from three matches (against
Kilgraston, Fettes and Gordonstoun), the
highlight was the nail-biting meeting with
Kilgraston – no sooner did one team score
than the other came back, and so it went on
until the last quarter when precision shooting
by Juliet Porter and Sophie Baird sealed the
win. So, what lies ahead for these netballers?
Hopefully many more years of club and
district netball for a good number of them.
And senior netball at Glenalmond? I certainly
hope so.
The Under-14s were obviously wellcoached at their various prep schools so we
cannot take all the credit for their success this
season! However, they worked hard
throughout, keeping their skills fresh and
incorporating some new tactics into their
repertoire.
Match days were always fun with the girls
eager to take to the court. They worked
extremely well together and it showed in the
effortless way they could turn a lost ball very
quickly into a scoring counter-attack.
Perth & Kinross District Representatives
Under-17: Juliet Porter, Maja Sikora, Annie
Porter, Ailsa Conway
Under-15: Sophie Baird, Lucy Murray-Wake
& Miss Charlotte Pounder
Scottish Islands Peaks Race
The Scottish Islands Peaks Race is a truly
inspiring event in which the competitors are
challenged to the limits – particularly the case
this year in conditions which nearly saw the
race abandoned (14 of the 34 boats that
started withdrew from the race).
After spending a comfortable night
onboard the Clyde Challenger the race began
with a six-mile run around Oban – Alex
Wainwright and Mollie Maclean getting us
off to a strong start. We sailed to Mull in
sunshine but on arriving the weather deteriorated. Gareth Davies (Patchell’s 2004-09) led
Holly Craven and Alex Wainwright through
very challenging conditions on the hill, but
the team performed fantastically, returning to
the boat cold and wet, but jubilant.
The overnight sail to Jura was through awful
conditions. A force 6 was blowing offshore so
the skipper obtained a dispensation from the
race organisers to use an outboard engine to
get the runners ashore. Again, the heavens had
opened and visibility was poor. The route on
Jura is notoriously difficult to follow but
Sophie Ledingham and Molly Sanderson, with
veteran SIPR runner Stephen Kinge, were up
to the challenge, negotiating the rough terrain
and rougher conditions.
The sail around the Mull of Kintyre is
exposed to the full force of the sea rolling in
from the Atlantic and the worst of the storm
was yet to come. It was during this leg that
we all realised our good fortune being
onboard the Clyde Challenger and her
professional crew really came into their own.
Whilst the 60-foot yacht was not built for
speed, it was safe and solid and got us round
the southern end of Arran in a force 9 gale
and mountainous seas. Luckily we were all
safely strapped into our bunks.
Lamlash Bay on Arran was a welcome sight
on Sunday morning. Mollie Maclean and a
pale looking Poppy Robertson joined up with
Kirsty Maclean (Lothian 2000-05) and set off
on a 19-mile run in which they climbed
2,900m from sea level. They ascended
through varying conditions to be greeted with
a blizzard of snow on the summit. Local
knowledge saw the girls off the mountain and
back to a warm welcome on the boat.
The final leg was a short sail to Troon and a
quick sprint by Molly and Alex into the clubhouse to be greeted with a bottle of champagne
and a highly delighted SPE. They had achieved
the quickest ever overall Glenalmond time for
both the sailing and the running. The Coll
runners finished a remarkable 12th out of the
20 adult teams based on their running time,
and as the only youth team completing the
event, were acclaimed the Junior King of the
Bens – what an achievement.
Many congratulations to all who took part
and many thanks to Patrick and Janine Erdal
for all their work behind the scenes.
Mrs Sue Maclean
Sailing
For the second year we undertook a weeklong Fourth Form voyage off the West Coast
with Ocean Youth Trust Scotland.
After two hours’ worth of vessel familiarisation and safety briefings, we headed out
into the Clyde estuary for the short hop
across to Holy Loch where the crew ‘enjoyed’
their first night sleeping in their tiny bunks in
the bow of the boat.
The following day we entered into a watch
system to get around the Mull of Kintyre to
our next destination, the tiny island of
Colonsay. This meant sailing solidly for two
days and a night in three-hour shifts, with one
watch sailing the boat whilst the other slept.
Going to sleep for three hours at 4 o’clock in
the afternoon was strange for many of the
crew! Sailing through the starry night with a
cloudless sky was quite magical and a highlight for many.
We arrived to an afternoon of glorious
sunshine and the crew took to shore to
explore what the island had to offer before
sunbathing on the deck.
With the weather closing in, the next day
we hightailed for shelter in the Sound of
Mull. So it was that the tiny sea loch of
Lochaline became our home for the next day
and two nights. On the penultimate evening,
even within the shelter of Lochaline, the
winds were gusting close to 40 knots and the
harbour master instructed us that our 58tonne vessel was in danger of damaging the
pontoon in such high winds. We motored out
into the centre of Lochaline to anchor for the
night. With storm boards in, the crew took
anchor watch shifts through the night to
ensure that we did not slip anchor. Trying to
get to sleep in such conditions was an adventure in itself!
The next day, with the winds beginning to
settle, we headed for the island of Kerrera,
our final destination. Sailing with just head
sails and mizzen in what were still force 7
winds was exciting stuff, but by the time we
reached Kerrera, the storm was a distant
memory and the sun was once again shining.
The crew completed their dinghy paddling
course and ventured ashore to witness an
amazing sunset.
The crew all achieved RYA competent
crew certificates, which will hopefully serve
as a door to future sailing opportunities. The
OYT staff also recommended all of them for
the OYT Young Leaders programme which
they are now entitled to take up. We all
returned jovial yet exhausted and I am
already looking forward to next summer’s
voyage.
S M S Smith
Swimming
When your alarm goes off at 6.00am, you
can be forgiven for reaching out an arm and
pressing the snooze button. Not for the swimmers, though: some set out for just such an
invigorating start three times a week, some
once or twice, but as more see success in
meets, more appear at early morning
training. There is, to my mind, no other sport
at Glenalmond that remotely equals the
commitment and dedication that these swimmers show on a regular basis.
This season saw our largest fixture list for a
while, with meets against Loretto (twice,
although one was cancelled), Fettes (twice),
Merchiston and Strathallan, and we hope to
build on this in the future. The season started
off in November with the Tayside and Fife
Swim Championships in Dundee and it set
the tone for what followed with a total of 12
medals received over two days of competition. Special mention should go to the boys’
captain, Tobermory Mackay-Champion, who
won both the 100m and 200m breaststroke,
breaking the school record in the process.
Along the way, the squad saw wins against
Fettes and Loretto. Swimming is in good
shape at Coll, with a number of school
records broken this season.
There is a strong cohort of swimmers
coming through at the moment and they have
helped to push, motivate and inspire those
around them. Particular praise should go to
this year’s captains of swimming, Molly
Sanderson and Tobermory MackayChampion, but also to Tom Jeffers, Sophie
Izat, Lauren Dundee and Kimmi Rae – these
talented swimmers are the future at
Glenalmond. A huge thank you must go to
swim coach Cristian Paven for his tireless
work with the whole squad. Long may it
continue!
Tayside & Fife Swim Championships:
T Jeffers – Third, 100m Butterfly
H Edgley – Third, 200m Breaststroke &
Second, 100m Breaststroke
T Mackay-Champion – First, 200m
Breaststroke & First, 100m Breaststroke
M Sanderson – Third, 200m Freestyle
L Burg – Second, 200m Individual Medley
& Third, 100m Freestyle
P Izat – First, 100m Backstroke
J Clark – Second, 100m Breaststroke
K Rae – Second, 100m Butterfly
F Williamson – Second, 100m Freestyle
F Williamson, L Burg, P Izat, M Sanderson
– Second, 200m Freestyle Relay
Tobermory Mackay-Champion:
• Gained a Bronze medal at the British
Championships in the 200m breaststroke
in his age group.
• Became Ulster 200m open breaststroke
champion
• Was invited to be in the Scottish
Swimming Senior Bronze Squad
Cross-Country
This report is rather shorter than usual as the
main event of the Glenalmond cross-country
season, the school steeplechase, had to be
cancelled owing to bad weather. Nonetheless,
there were many highlights in another strong
year for the sport within the school.
The girls were to the fore this year, with a
senior and junior team heading to Falkirk in
November for the Scottish Schools’ Road
Race. The juniors did particularly well, with
Third Former Susannah Godfrey-Faussett,
who also runs for Gala Harriers, leading the
team to bronze medals.
The Lent Term saw Glenalmond host
Strathallan in a friendly race around the golf
course. Susannah again won the girls’ race,
with Annie Porter and Rosie Forsyth in
second and third places. Strathallan claimed
the top three boys’ spots, with Rory Sandison
and Samuel David the fastest from Coll.
It was another win for Susannah at the
return match at Strathallan a couple of weeks
later, with notable performances too from Isla
Graham, Rosie Forsyth, Charlie Aldridge and
Angus Sandison.
We were very pleased to send two girls’
teams to the Scottish Schools’ Cross-Country
Championships at Irvine in March. The
senior team was led home by Annie Porter,
with Laura Godfrey-Faussett, Beth Stephen,
Isla Graham and Marina Morgan also
running well to bring the team home in sixth
place. The junior team, duly led home by
Susannah Godfrey-Faussett - and helped by
strong performances from Lorna Porter,
Rosie Forsyth and Mia Morrison - finished
third out of 11 teams to pick up well-deserved
bronze medals. Susannah herself finished in
ninth place out of 71 runners and was subsequently selected to represent Scotland at
Under-15 level in an international race in
Ireland later that month, where she helped
her team to a silver medal.
All-in-all, it has been a year of notable
achievement, with pleasing progress being
made on the girls’ front, something which we
would like to develop next year. Arguably, it
has not been a strong year for boys’ running,
but I am sure that junior talent will emerge
and develop, as pupils use cross-country
running as a useful part of training for other
sports as well as to represent the school to the
best of their ability in races.
My thanks this year to the boys’ and girls’
captains, Jamie Corkery and Laura GodfreyFaussett, and to all those staff who have
helped at the various events.
M A Orviss
Tennis
Senior Boys
The senior tennis squad played six fixtures
in the Trinity Term, all before half-term. Two
other matches were scheduled but our opponents had difficulty raising teams. Seven
players represented Coll at different times:
the Sandison brothers (Angus and Rory),
Augustin Oudard, George Page, Harry
Watson, Finn Kirkpatrick and Fergus
Skinner. In recent years we have been lucky
to have a strong Catalan contingent that
ensured continuous success. This season,
without these boys, the team still managed to
secure wins over five of our opponents with
only Strathallan proving too strong. Thus,
victories were achieved over Fettes, St
Leonards (twice) and Loretto. A team significantly weakened by examination commitments lost a close contest with Morrison’s but
a predominantly Russian squad at Strathallan
humbled our full strength side.
Angus Sandison completed three full years
as a first team member and was the obvious
choice as captain. His brother Rory still has
two full years to play, and Oudard, Page,
Skinner and Kirkpatrick will also be available
to provide the nucleus of an experienced
team next year. I am grateful to all the boys
for the fun that we shared along the way, and
most particularly to Angus who despite a
demanding examination schedule maintained
full focus on leading Glenalmond tennis.
None of the boys attempted to cry-off a
fixture on the basis of examination commitments, which was refreshing, as the summer
sports come under increasing pressure.
A Norton
Senior Girls
There was no pre-season this year so a few
girls were rather rusty when they picked up
their rackets. Winter tennis had been
available but some had been unable to fit it
into their busy schedules.
After early losses to a strong Dollar side
and George Watson’s – a very close match
(4-5) that we should have won – the 1st VI
went on a great winning streak with victories
over The High School of Dundee, Loretto
and Fettes. In these three matches the
pairing of Minnie Murray-Poore and Mollie
Maclean (which has an eight-year history
stretching back to prep school) did not drop
a set. Strathallan then proved too strong for a
team missing two key players before the
season ended well with a win against
Morrison’s, in which Minnie and Mollie
dropped only three games in three sets –
a super performance to finish off the
school matches.
The highlight of the season is the
Kilgraston Tournament – imagine beautiful
weather, a lovely backdrop, strawberries and
champagne. Then think again – this year the
conditions were terrible, but despite the
wind, rain and cold, the girls all performed
well. In the senior section, two pairs, Minnie
and Mollie and Izzy Farquharson and Lizzie
Wallace, qualified from their sections to the
quarter-finals, Minnie and Mollie advancing
on to the semis but getting no further. Annie
Porter and Appin Mackay-Champion played
in the Under-16 section and also qualified for
the quarter-finals, which they lost in a wellfought match.
With the great depth that we have in senior
tennis the 2nd VI were very strong and had a
fantastic unbeaten season. The squad
comprised Eleanor Skinner, Georgie Flowers,
Kitty Webster, Holly Craven, Jenna
Goodfellow, Ailsa Conway, Jamaica Radcliffe
and Megan Bruce with appearances from
Katy Irvine, Tora Joicey and Laura GodfreyFaussett. Only 11 sets were dropped out of 45
played – a great stat from a great team.
The 3rd VI were also a team to be reckoned
with, losing only one of the five fixtures. We
had no problem fielding a 4th VI but struggled to find opponents. It was good, though,
to play Dollar and win 8-1!
We lose Minnie Murray-Poore and Mollie
Maclean, who together won a huge number
of sets over their three years playing 1st VI
tennis, and Lizzy Wallace who has been so
dedicated to Coll tennis over the years. There
are some good players on the way up to fill
the leavers’ shoes, however. Senior girls’
tennis is in very good shape.
1st VI squad – Minnie Murray-Poore
(captain), Mollie Maclean, Annie Porter,
Appin Mackay-Champion, Lizzie Wallace,
Izzy Farquharson, Katy Irvine
Mrs Sue Maclean
Junior Girls
Under-15
This is a talented group, nowhere more so
than on the tennis court. Wins across the
board for all three teams against George
Watson’s, Strathallan and Mary Erskine was
an indication of the depth and ability they
have.
The first three fixtures of the season saw
only one loss in eight matches - an electrifying start. Overall, the ‘A’ team played nine
matches and won seven, with Lucy MurrayWake and Jules Porter a dominant force as
first pair. The ‘B’ team played six matches and
were impressive throughout, winning most
comfortably. The ‘C ‘team won three and lost
two fixtures (one against a ‘B ‘side). This is a
fantastic group of girls who love their sport
and play it in an excellent spirit at all times.
Under-14
The Under-14 ‘A’s had an impressive
unbeaten season; three of their matches
(against Fettes, Kilgraston and Strathallan)
were won 5-4, which demonstrates their
competitive
spirit.
The
Kilgraston
Tournament was, as ever, a hugely enjoyable
event and two pairs, Armorel Robinson and
Susannah Godfrey-Faussett, and Violet
McGrigor and Holly Riches, were both
runners-up in their sections, progressing to
the knockout stages.
The girls have been an absolute pleasure to
work with. They made considerable progress
in their play and absorbed everything thrown
at them, practising time and time again.
OGs
London Dinner
Nearly 60 OGs turned out on a freezing
December night for a fantastic gathering at
the Caledonian Club. Guests ranged in age
from Mark R Cornwall-Jones OBE (82,
Matheson’s 1946-51) to Jenny Driver (22,
Lothian 2009-11).
Arbroath smokie, roast lamb, apricot tart
and mince pies were all washed down with
some select wines.
The Warden gave a very personal and lighthearted swansong speech: “It does not seem
11 years since I first stood before the London
OG dinner, a couple of days before the end of
my first term as Warden. Whilst I think I
knew what was happening (others may
disagree) the sense of being only just in
control was not helped by knowing that when
I got back to Glenalmond I was to face writing
the best part of 400 reports. Getting fogbound at Heathrow for four hours the next
morning was then, as they say, the icing on the
cake. We’ve travelled by train ever since and
written roughly 13,000 reports!”
Squadron Leader Ruth Shackleton
(Lothian 1991-93), Team Manager to the
RAF’s Red Arrows, gave the first female OG
speech. Ruth spoke warmly of her amazing
career, detailing a particularly busy year: “This
is the 50th Display Season of the Red Arrows
and we have performed 85 displays in ten
countries with countless flypasts including the
Commonwealth Games, Tour de France,
Invictus Games and the NATO summit.”
Ruth detailed her role with a mind-boggling
list of statistics: “There are currently 120
personnel on the team (a self-contained unit).
Nine display pilots, Red 10, commentators,
engineers, administrators, photographers,
survival equipment experts, drivers… my job is
to make sure everyone is at the right place, at
the right time, every time!”
Of particular interest was the squadron
leader’s description of the five-week 2013
Middle Eastern tour. “70 people, 11 jets, a
B747 and an A321. We performed 15 displays
and travelled through ten countries meeting
Heads
of
State,
Prime
Ministers,
Ambassadors.” This was a very important tour
for the team, demonstrating its true value. “It is
not just about performing effortless aerial aerobatics six feet apart at 420kms,” said Ruth, “but
to represent UK PLC, the best of British
Industry, a means of defence diplomacy and
recruitment.”
Formal proceedings finished with a
rousing rendition of the Carmen. Keith
Grant-Peterkin (Patchell’s 1955-60) delighted
fellow OGs with a 1962 copy of Scottish Field
that included a feature on Glenalmond. The
same magazine featured a spread of
Glenalmond pictures in their March edition
of ‘Scene Around’.
Mairi Fraser, Alumni Relations Officer
Photos by David Sandison
Dr Craig Fleming addressed the 80 pupils
(could the offer of a couple of glasses of free
wine have had anything to do with the high
turnout?) saying: “We’re here to help with
global contacts, career advice from fellow
OGs, events throughout the world, sports
clubs – keep in touch!” Information flowed in
both directions, with the department taking
on board pupils’ suggestions for an OG
whisky or beer, more invitations for OGs to
come back to Coll (we’re working hard on
this) and ways in which the department can
use social media more effectively.
Mairi Fraser
Leavers’ Drinks
On Friday, 8 May the Development &
Alumni Relations Office hosted the first - and
very well received – drinks reception for the
Upper Sixth Formers. This event was to
advise the pupils – about to become OGs –
what was on offer from the department.
Director of Development & Alumni Relations
Attendee lists for all events are now listed on the ‘Past, Present & Future’ section of the Glenalmond website, under ‘Events’.
Registration for all events is now available online. Should you prefer to complete a written form, please call the Alumni office 01738 842046.
1847 Society Dinner
Glenalmond, in partnership with The
Gleneagles Hotel, played host to the very
stylish re-launch of the 1847 Society with a
dinner on Thursday, 16 April 2015.
The Society consists of members who have
pledged a legacy to Glenalmond. During his
after-dinner speech, the Warden noted that
the College is “greatly appreciative of all gifts,
of whatever size” and this dinner was to say a
“long-overdue thank you” to the many
supporters and their partners.
A warm, sunny evening greeted guests,
bedecked in evening finery, as they congregated under the clock in Front Quad at 18:47
and progressed to a Champagne reception.
Craig Fleming, Director of Development,
commented on the choice of meeting point,
saying: “I wanted guests to feel very comfortable and ‘at home’ here and I thought a touch
of humour was just the way to kick-start this
important evening.” Indeed it was. PipeMajor Alasdair Johnston’s welcoming medley
of competition music, including Arthur
Bignold of Lochrusque and the Jiggernaught,
added to the warm atmosphere.
Upon the guests’ arrival, Captains of
College Angus Sandison and Hannah-Jane
Headon guided Society members to the
Conference Room before ensuring they were
offered a taste of the especially created ‘1847’
cocktail: a heady brew of vintage cognac,
sugar water and mint, created specifically for
the night by Tony Abbott, Head of Catering
at the College.
The jovial atmosphere, and many
comments of “I haven’t see you in years”, was
complimented by Miss Jasmine Neufeld and
several Music Scholars performing a variety
of pieces from this year’s Gala concert. Even
the flowers had a role to play; beautifully
arranged by Emma Woods and Fiona Wallace
(current parent and mother of OG and
former Captain of Coll, Rebecca Wallace) of
Bramble and Thyme. The blooms were
picked for their colour and significance:
purple delphiniums (ceremony and big
hearted), yellow roses (friendship), orange
alstroemeria (wealth and prosperity), all
themes which ran through the fabric of the
evening.
In a brief address, Craig commented that
the emphasis had been on combining “historical values with a contemporary twist” but
added that the following meal definitely
wasn’t “based on school dinners from 1847!”
Lit by candlelight, Hall was truly magnificent, with guests even pausing at the top of
the stairs to enjoy the scene. One long table,
clad in white linen and a full length purple
runner, supported silver candelabras and
complementary bouquets, while individual
place cards sported the Wordsworth wax seal
(a replica of the original school seal).
Gleneagles’ Director of Food & Beverage,
Alan Hill and Tony Abbott’s teams worked in
conjunction, producing hand-dived scallops,
roast Scotch beef medallion and caramel
panna cotta all rounded off with truffles and
Viennese biscuits and more than a glass or
two of fine wine.
During a short message of thanks, Gordon
Woods paid tribute to Coll’s many
stakeholders. He made a particular point of
praising pupils of the College: “Their confidence and intellectual curiosity is of note” he
said, “and it is with great pride that I consistently hear that pupils from this school are a
much sought-after product.”
Chairman of Committee of Council, Niall
Booker (Patchell’s 1971-75) replied by
thanking Gordon and Emma for their many
years of “thoughtful and mindful stewardship” of the College and specifically for
reminding himself and other Council
Dinner in Deutschland
The Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof hotel
in Frankfurt was host to the inaugural
Glenalmond ‘Dinner in Deutschland’ in
November 2014. In conjunction with The
Gleneagles Hotel, 45 OGs, parents and staff
gathered for a celebration of all things
Scottish. Piper Brian Elrick played and a
menu of Findonay haggis, hand-dived scallops and Angus beef was paired with the
finest German wines. Retiring Registrar,
Jeremy Poulter – who has done much to
establish and maintain contacts in Germany –
made a speech in German. We hope to repeat
this event every couple of years. Keep an eye
on the ‘Events’ section of our website.
Fellows’ Lunch
Members, particularly during the world’s
recent choppy financial waters, of the
importance of the “educational experience.”
Craig Fleming concluded the evening by
thanking his team for organising the event
while advising guests that “You will have to
sing for your supper!” A rousing rendition of
the Carmen topped off a fine and memorable evening. Roll on next year.
Mairi Fraser
Photos by Gill Murray
The Glenalmond Fellowship met on the
eve of Commem for their AGM, followed by
lunch with guests. It was, perhaps, a unique
occasion with Gordon Woods present at his
last Fellows’ meeting as Warden, flanked by
three former Wardens – John Musson, Jim
Wainwright and Ian Templeton.
The Fellows and their guests enjoyed an
excellent three-course lunch in the
Conference Room. Lord Menzies (OG),
Chairman of Council, took the opportunity to
thank Gordon and Emma for their careful
stewardship of Coll over the last 12 years.
Guests also included Maureen Marshall, who
retired last year after ten years as Director of
Development & Alumni Relations.
The Fellows meet twice during the year
with the next meeting the London Lunch at
the Caledonian Club in March 2016.
The Glenalmond Fellows in attendance at
the annual Fellowship Lunch at Coll, Friday,
26 June 2015. From left to right: John W
Musson, John Izat, Robin L Wilson, Andrew
Primrose, John M Stevenson, Gordon Woods,
Lady Hilary Menzies, James F Wainwright,
Aline Templeton, Dr Keith D Thomson, Lord
Wilson, Joyce Mackie MBE DL, Lord
Sanderson, John J B Stevenson, Dr Ian G
Templeton.
John Mackenzie Venters (Skrine’s 1938-40)
and Patrick R Cook (Skrine’s 1951-56)
enjoying a sundowner in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida, January 2015. They propose forming a
South Florida Chapter of the OG Club – are
there any others out there? During his visit to
the US in February 2014, Craig Fleming,
Director of Development, introduced John
and Patrick, and they now meet frequently.
Edinburgh Dinner
On Friday, 18 January 2015, Coll staff and
alumni gathered at The New Club,
Edinburgh for the OG Club dinner.
Following the club’s AGM – where Rupert
Morgan was voted in as the new OG Club
Chairman – and welcome drinks reception, the
outgoing Chairman, Alex Mackenzie Smith,
began proceedings and the meal commenced.
It was absolutely fantastic to have over 100
attendees and particularly gratifying to see so
many young members. As the wine flowed (it
flowed less for those attuned to Scotland’s
lowered blood/alcohol limit), old friends were
re-acquainted and new connections made.
Borders Dinner
While the evening belonged to OGs, the
main focus of the night was on our departing
friend, Gordon Woods. As our speaker, he
spoke with the passion and dedication which
characterised his tenure as Warden. We look
forward to seeing Gordon and Emma among us
in years to come as Honorary OGs.
In keeping with immemorial tradition, the
Carmen was blasted out with heart-warming
gusto bringing the night to an end.
Euan McSherry
Traditionally, ‘Friday the 13th’ may be a
rather unlucky date. For the 40 folks fortunate enough to attend the Borders Dinner,
their luck was definitely in. The mood was
one of a jolly ‘house party’. OG Club
Chairman, Rupert Morgan (Matheson’s
1977-82), commented that it was “lovely to
see the ladies and gents in slightly more
casual attire” and that this evening was “living
proof that Coll is a great place to make
friends for life.”
After a delicious dinner, Chairman of the
Borders Dinner Malcom Leslie (Matheson’s
1985-91) rose to thank the Townhouse for the
spread and also to award an honorary prize to
Mike Andrews (Goodacre’s 1956-60) for being
the first to “get his cheque in” for the dinner!
Gordon Woods made reference to this
being his last Borders Dinner and the “great
warmth and affection” both he and Emma
always received. He continued: “I have enormous pride in Coll. We will both miss the
great sense of energy among the young
people,” and continued, “the school is on a
firm financial footing and, 25 years after the
first girls arrived, we have moved from a boys’
school that takes girls to a fully co-educational
establishment.”
Mairi Fraser
Photos by Phil Wilkinson
Oxbridge Dinner
We were blessed with a glorious May evening at
Balliol, Oxford as a good number of our company
met in the beautiful College Chapel to celebrate
the feast of St Matthias. Sung Evensong was
conducted impeccably by Neil McCleery OG,
now Assistant Chaplain at New College. We were
piped in to dinner by Cameron Montgomery and
David Willington, as the senior Balliol man
present, said College grace.
The food and wines were exquisite and the
company generous in attendance and appreciation. Adam Bruce, once of Reid’s and Balliol and
former President of the Oxford Union, gave a
wonderful keynote address, speaking with
charm, erudition and wit – a truly dazzling
display of the rhetorician’s art.
We have enjoyed eight such occasions and
we look forward to Cambridge next May. Last
year’s Cambridge venue, Caius, set the bar
high and went on to win University
Challenge! The ‘Tabs’ present in Oxford were
given resounding voice by Niall Booker, loyal
Caius man and no mean speaker himself. We
all departed into the Oxford night with the
Carmen in our hearts and minds and determined to meet again on the Cam next year.
J D Wright
Photos by John Lawrence
Major Benefactors’ Dinner
On Thursday, 4 June 2015, Winton House
played host to the inaugural Glenalmond
Major Benefactors’ Dinner. Donors from
around the world travelled to East Lothian to
enjoy a relaxed night of conversation, in stunning surroundings.
Those assembled heard words of thanks
from the Warden and the Chairman of
Council, Lord Menzies (OG), both of whom
paid tribute to the support, both financial and
in-kind, from which Glenalmond has bene-
fitted. Guests also heard from the owner of
Winton House, and fellow OG, Sir Francis
Ogilvy, who shared a brief history of the house,
which was built by the Setons in 1480 following
a grant of land by David I to Phillip de Sayton
in 1150.
Once again, a sincere thank you to all of our
benefactors, including those unable to attend.
Details of the second annual Benefactors’
Dinner will follow in due course.
Photos by Phil Wilkinson
Supporting Sports Dinner
On Saturday, 13 June, Glenalmond hosted
its first ‘Supporting Sports Dinner’, with 160
parents and friends of Glenalmond attending.
The purpose of the evening was clear: to
raise funds for ongoing developments, to
reinforce the future sporting vision of the
College and for guests to enjoy themselves.
By the end of the evening, a fantastic £30,000
had been raised!
Receiving a spontaneous round of
applause, Director of Hockey David Stott
said: “This is the first Sports Dinner at Coll
and what an event!” He continued:
“Understandably, I am extremely passionate
about pupils participating in sport – this new
Polytan FIH standard pitch (the same as to
be used in the Rio Olympics) will set the
standard high.” Already benefiting from
high-performance coaching, pupils will now
be able to train and play on a world-class
surface.
The evening’s entertainment kicked off in
the Recital Hall. As a perfect backdrop to
sipping cocktails, Third Form pupil Durness
Mackay-Champion made the concert grand
sing out with a virtuoso performance, which
included two of Beethoven’s piano sonatas,
Grieg’s Prelude from the Holberg Suite,
Robert Schumann’s Widmung and some ever
popular Liszt.
Master of Ceremony, OG and former
Scotland Rugby Captain, Rob Wainwright,
then invited guests to follow Third Form
piper Gregor Cochrane to Hall, lavishly decorated with peony roses and delphiniums by
current parent Helen Thom. Guests enjoyed
a three-course feast, served by pupil volunteers, topped off by Fiona Cochrane’s homemade tablet.
During his speech, David spoke passionately about the vision for sporting excellence
at Glenalmond. He updated guests on
developments on the state-of-the-art Neish’s
rugby and lacrosse pitch and an Olympicstandard water-based hockey pitch: neither
possible without generous philanthropy. The
pitches will be among the very best surfaces
in Scotland.
Pauline Stott, two-time GB Hockey
Olympian, gave an inspirational speech,
noting that: “With hard work and dedication
anything is possible.” Even Rob Wainwright
seemed in awe of Pauline’s cap collection!
Charles Graham-Campbell (OG) of
Bonhams began the auction with his
customary flair and, thanks to the generosity
of those who donated such amazing prizes
(paintings donated by students and teachers,
wonderful holiday destinations and first-class
sporting experiences among others) the
magnificent total was realised.
Feedback on the evening was unanimously
positive; one guest emailing to say: “I just
wanted to say thank you very much for an
extremely enjoyable evening last night. We
loved eating in Hall, which our children are so
privileged to eat in every day.”
(The event was featured over two pages in
Scottish Field’s August 2015 edition.)
Hockey: OG Match
A fine, mid-March day greeted an OG
hockey team to Glenalmond. After a hearty
Sunday lunch, everyone took to the top
Astroturf.
The team consisted of seven OGs, a couple
of members of staff (Steve Smith and Alasdair
Purdie), and a ringer in James Killingbeck.
Tinker Fraser, a current parent of one of the
players, kindly picked up the stick and played
for the team as well.
Only one of the OG team, Kate Hill
(Lothian 2003-05), still plays hockey regularly.
Jamie Sole (Reid’s 2002-07) and Richard Mill
(Goodacre’s 2000-05) both still play high-level
rugby. The likes of Angus Mill (Goodacre’s
2002-07) hadn’t picked up a stick since school!
Lynsey Grewar (née Brunton, Lothian 200005), Alice Campbell (Lothian 2003-08) and
Matthew Waterston (Matheson’s 2002-07) had
taken to the field since school, but nothing
serious.
The school turned up with a strong side,
many of whom were part of the 1st XI. In goal,
Alasdair was struggling to deal with a few of the
shots coming at him. Another couple of goals
from the school led to a 4-0 lead. The second
half told a different story. Alasdair decided to
swap goals and went in for the school. Some
good passing and movement led to our first
goal, a debut for James Killingbeck.
Some fine passing led to another couple of
goals. Some surging runs from Jamie at the
back and sound defence from Angus, Steve
and Alice brought about an equalising goal
from James.
The comeback was complete, 6-4 at the final
whistle. We hope to get more OGs involved in
future. Make sure you mark your diaries for 20
March 2016 for next year’s return match!
Matthew Waterston
Alastair lost a ski but gained a respectable
time, Freddie and Louisa finished safely. All
had a smile on their face. “We are all a bit
nutty but that’s the fun,” said Charles. Tour
‘groupies’ added to the merriment with
Alastair Younger’s Canadian wife, Tamara,
showing the Scots how to play the bagpipes!
Janine Erdal, Cairnie’s Matron and herself
a former champion skier was delighted to
lend the team school catsuits. “It’s good to see
Coll’s name on top of the world” she said!
Mairi Fraser
Skiing: ‘The Inferno’
It was sun, skis and slaloms for a group of
OGs at the very challenging 72nd annual
‘Inferno’ combined competition in the
magnificent Mürren area of Switzerland at
the end of January 2015.
Charles Graham-Campbell (Patchell’s
1978-83), Charles’ son Freddie, Alastair
(Charles’ brother, Patchell’s 1979-86), their
sister Louisa Graham-Campbell, Alastair
Younger (Skrine’s 1975-80), over from his
native Canada for the event, Michael
Alexander (Patchell’s 1980-85), David
Alexander (Patchell’s 1981-86), Robert Bruce
(Reid’s 1981-86) and James Muir (Reid’s
1977-81) took part.
Over 1800 competitors take part each year,
with Charles and co entering through the
Kandahar Ski Club. The race was organized
for the first time in 1928 by a group of ‘skicrazy’ Englishmen. Today it is the largest
amateur skiing race in the world.
Charles crashed during the downhill,
Equestrianism: OG Leads Cambridge to Victory
Alice Strang Steel (Home 2006-11) has
captained the Cambridge University
Equestrian Team (CUET) and was in charge
of organising/running the Equestrian Varsity
2015 between Oxford and Cambridge.
She hosted the competition at the neutral
venue of the Witham Villa Riding Centre, in
Leicestershire on Tuesday, 10 March. The
competition consisted of dressage (BD
Elementary 44) and showjumping phases.
Competitors ride unknown, randomly-drawn
horses, with seven minutes to warm-up for
dressage and five minutes and three practice
fences for jumping. Alice scored the highest
number of collective marks (given for rider’s
position, effectiveness, accuracy and influence on the horse) on the day. This meant
that she won the individual title in the first
team competition.
Both Cambridge’s first and second teams
won by landslide victories (possibly the
biggest margin in the history of the competition). Alice is now a Half-Blue.
Return to Ben More Assynt
During the Easter holidays of 1976 two
15-year-old Matheson’s boys were part of a
week-long expedition to Assynt in
Sutherland. The trip was led by the late
Charlie Shiffner (Glenalmond Master
1969-2001). A young David Willington
(Glenalmond Master 1973-2006) was another
master who took part.
During the trip, the group embarked on
climbing Conival (987m, 3,238ft) and Ben
More Assynt (998m, 3,274ft), two of
Sutherland’s surprisingly few munros.
Conival was successfully climbed but, annoyingly, the team had to turn back due to whiteout conditions within a few hundred feet of
the summit of Ben More Assynt.
The boys were David Sanderson and Nigel
Roberts. Dejected, they descended the
mountain promising each other that one day
“they would come back to conquer it”. Nigel
takes up the story…
“In the early summer of 2014 David and
I (both now 53) arrived in Inchnadamph, a
hamlet in Assynt, at the foot of the mountain. Unfinished business had to be
completed. Having been great mates at
Matheson’s 1977-78: Nigel Roberts
(standing third from left and David
Sanderson (seated far right)
Left: David and Nigel (and Molly the dog)
reaching the peak
school we had lost touch after leaving Coll
and were reunited at an OG dinner in
London in 2009. Our promise to conquer
Ben More Assynt became easier when
we discovered that a fellow Matheson’s old
boy, Richard Peirse-Duncombe, now lived
within a short distance of Inchnadamph.
Accommodation sorted!
On the day, our walk took us up Conival,
retracing our steps of 38 years previously, and
along the lovely ridge to Ben More Assynt.
Finally reaching the summit after so long
was quite an emotional moment for both
of us and one that we will remember for the
rest of our lives. We descended into Glen
Cassley and on to a hearty, well-deserved
supper.
The OG Club put us back together again
and allowed us to fulfil our promise to each
other – we will be forever grateful for that.”
Where are they now? Ranulph Cameron
Ranulph Cameron (Skrine’s 2008-12),
grandson of Ronald Adam (Patchell’s 194954), had strong ties to Coll and Scotland but
this didn’t stop him from forging his own life
and career in British Columbia.
Originally planning to join the Royal
Marines, with Canada just a gap year, Ranulph
decided to make the country his home.
At just 17 he headed across the pond and
started working as a skidder operator – a
massive tractor used to pull logs out of the
forest. Ranulph admits this was an unusual
move: “I have gone off in a very different
direction from the one we were taught in
Geography”.
Ranulph graduated from an intense firefighting course, with fire suppression, autoextrication and rope-rescue taught. He now
works for the 100 Mile House (a small town
located in the South Cariboo region of central
British Columbia) Fire Rescue Team. Since
graduating, time has been hectic and his expe-
rience varied. “We have dealt with lots of
medical calls, car accidents (many serious)
and a fire in a three-storey building” he says.
Sadly, Ranulph’s job also includes having
to deal with the deceased: “Last week we had
a call at midnight to a fatal car accident.”
Ranulph continued: “The passenger was
trapped so we used cutting tools to extract
her. Because it was a fatal accident there had
to be an investigation so we were at the scene
for seven hours.” Despite these tragic events,
Ranulph sees it as his duty to carry out all
tasks professionally: “I still love this job and
would fully recommend it to anyone.” And
what of the future for our brave OG? “A
couple of years here then I’d like to be hired
by a big city fire department.”
Coll wishes him well and a safe future.
Mairi Fraser
James Gammell (Patchell’s 1990-94) and Deborah Stewart
married in Glenisla, Perthshire on 23 August 2014. Seen here
are 11 OGs in attendance (including the groom!): (From left to
right) Michael Hunter (Patchell’s 1989-94), David Hunter
(Patchell’s 1961-66), Holly Riches (current pupil), Susannah
Gammell (Lothian 1994-96), James Gammell (Patchell’s 199094), Deborah Stewart, Neil Hannay (Patchell’s 1990-94), Rory
Donaldson (Patchell’s 1988-94), Jamie Trentham (Reid’s 198994), Mark Ivory (Reid’s 1989-94), Matthew Sheldrick (Reid’s
1989-94) and Nick Houldsworth (Matheson’s 1990-93).
Obituaries
John Gillespie
On 18 April 2015, aged 66
Master 1985-2009
John Neill Meredith
Gillespie was an
Irishman. He was
educated at Bootham
School in York and
Trinity
College,
Dublin, where he read
Modern Languages.
He was fluent in
French, German and
Spanish and could
hold his own in Italian, Portuguese and
Russian. He came to Glenalmond from
Framlingham in 1985 to be Head of Modern
Languages. He and his wife Jill with their two
young children, Kiri and James, lived in
Gardener’s Cottage. Before the children
arrived, the Gillespies had travelled extensively; they had been round the world twice.
John’s linguistic ear enabled him to converse
readily with people anywhere.
Despite his Quaker schooling, John took
over the RAF Section, which he ran with great
efficiency. As for games, he preferred individual sports, such as tennis and fencing,
excelling at both himself and representing
Ireland at fencing in the Student Games.
Fencing had been in abeyance at Glenalmond
for a number of years and with patient
coaching he built up a team which was highly
successful in inter-school competitions. Boys
from Glenalmond were chosen to represent
Scotland. John’s personal tennis technique
owed more to the squash court than to
Wimbledon, but under his management – and
that of Jill with the girls – Glenalmond were
formidable opponents. John came into his
own in the masters’ squash team, which he
organised for many years. It played in the
Crieff and District League, but not in the first
division. By the mid-1990s, every member of
the pool of players was over 50 years of age.
When one member was taken to hospital with
a torn Achilles tendon, the consultant advised:
“Get yourself a younger team.”
John had an uncompromising approach to
teaching. He believed in the direct method
(’total immersion’ in the classroom) and
regular learning of vocabulary. Some pupils
found this alarming, accustomed to the
gentler methods of prep schools. However, his
results speak for themselves. When Modern
Languages were declining elsewhere, his
French AS group was larger than in any other
independent school in Scotland; at one point
there were two sets for Spanish GCSE. Upper
sets took GCSE French in the Fourth Form
and Highers in the Fifth. He lamented the
dumbing–down of public examinations and
the decline of German, but both were
problems nationwide.
John was a very forthright person. He had
an opinion on most matters and he would air
his views about football in the SCR at breakfast. He had a number of cars which he drove
with panache. Except for skiing, he was not an
outdoors person, but latterly Jill persuaded
him to take up walking. Their last expedition
was to the Himalayas. He and Jill retired in
2009 to the splendid house they had built at
Trochry, with a tennis court, of course. He had
been treated for cancer previously and it was
very sad that the disease returned in the
summer of 2014.
D R Willington
Alan Elliott
On 17 October 2014, aged 90
Master 1954-76
Alan Elliott was
a dedicated and
inspiring
teacher
whose ease of manner
and agreeable personality were communicated to colleagues
and pupils. He taught
at Glenalmond for
22 years and was
Housemaster
of
Matheson’s from 1962. As the official history
of Glenalmond records: “Alan Elliott was the
most complete master of his generation.”
Alan David Victor Elliott was the son of a
schoolmaster at Mill Hill, which he himself
attended. He read Mathematics at Merton
College, Oxford and during and after the war
he served at the Royal Aircraft Establishment
at Farnborough translating German. After
teaching at Cheltenham College he joined
Glenalmond in 1954. He initially taught
Maths, but his wide range of interests and
abilities ensured that he also taught German
and History – especially Scottish History on
which he was an authority. Elliott was an allround sportsman and enthusiastically
coached the 1st XI, and for a few years the 1st
XV. He was in charge of the Royal Navy
Section of the CCF and directed Gilbert and
Sullivan operas in the old gym with dramatic
panache. He had a fine bass voice and often
sang solos in works such as Handel’s Messiah.
Elliott’s rendering of ‘Why Do the Nations’
was always delivered with much flourish.
He was Housemaster of Matheson’s where
his concern for his boys’ welfare was paramount. He became a central character in the
working of the school – he co-ordinated the
exam timetables and taught Scottish country
dancing. As he strode through the cloisters he
could be easily detected. Clouds of smoke
billowed from the ever-present pipe through
which one could spot a battered Tyrolean hat
and an ancient gown. Elliott greeted everyone
with an affable smile, chatting about anything.
In 1976, he accepted the post of
Headmaster of New Park, which suited his
understanding of younger pupils and their
well-being. Elliot was instrumental in ensuring
the school’s expansion by making it co-educational.
In 1984, he retired but remained active in
many fields. He was a keen angler and often
fished the lochs in the Highlands in the
summer. Elliott was a well-known figure in
Fife. The minister at Largo and Newburn, the
Rev John Murdoch, who conducted his
funeral, recalls: “Alan has been such a
wonderful presence here and a greatly
esteemed elder of the Kirk.”
Elliott had started playing golf at six and was
a single handicap player for many years. At
Glenalmond he had done much to improve the
course (widening the fairways helped many a
young enthusiast) and his courteous manner
made him an ideal choice as chief marshal at
the Old Course for major competitions,
including two Opens, the Dunhill
International and, two events dear to his heart:
the Autumn and Spring Medals. The R&A paid
tribute: “Alan had been a member of the club
since 1954. In 2007 he was made a life member
in recognition of his distinguished service to
the club.”
Alan Elliott was a man of many disciplines
who passed on his knowledge and expertise
with a genial enthusiasm. He had the gift of
seeing each person as distinctive and interesting. “Alan provided the encouragement to
allow a pupil to fulfil his potential,” one former
pupil recalled. “He took students on camping
trips in the Cairngorms and it always poured. I
reminded him recently that we never caught
any fish. Within days I got an e-mail detailing
our catch. That was typical of Alan. He had a
phenomenal memory for detail and names.
He was excellent company and a fine example
to all.”
Alan Elliott is survived by his wife Heather
and their son and daughter.
Alasdair Steven, The Scotsman
Further OG obituaries can be found
in the Past, Present, Future section of the
website, under Notices
John Speirs
David Small
On 27 December, aged 77
Skrine’s 1951-56
On 28 January 2015, aged 87
Skrine’s 1940-45
Glenalmond Council 1975-87
John Speirs was an eminent businessman
with Norsk Hydro, the Norwegian aluminium
and renewable energy company. He was an
acknowledged expert in environmental affairs
and published various influential reports on
the subject. Speirs was also chairman of the
UK faculty of the Prince of Wales’ Business
and the Environment Programme for ten
years and a member of the Royal Commission
on Environmental Pollution.
He also served on the Carbon Trust and
was president of the National Society of Clean
Air and Environmental Protection. He was
adviser to Kleinwort Capital Limited. All
these responsibilities he despatched with a
commitment and drive that reflected his own
dedication to the subject.
John Garrett Speirs was the oldest of three
children of a Glasgow businessman. He
attended Cargilfield Preparatory School in
Edinburgh and then Glenalmond, where he
was a scholar and displayed a talent for music
which remained a passion all his life. As well
as being head of the school, Speirs was an
excellent athlete, winning the steeplechase,
and performed in various theatrical productions. His Josephine in HMS Pinafore is fondly
remembered by contemporaries.
In 1956, Speirs read Classics at Exeter
College, Oxford and then studied business
management at Cornell University in New
York State.
Throughout his busy career south of the
Border, Speirs remained a fervent Scot. He
and other members of the Speirs family were
ardent climbers of Munros and their outings
were all logged enthusiastically. He returned
to Edinburgh to attend the International
Festival and annual social functions at
Christmas. He preserved a love of Scottish
country dancing all his life: the family’s
Hogmanay parties were an event wherever
they lived.
Speirs was a man of many interests and,
apart from his distinguished business career,
he was devoted to his family. He was well
versed in music and opera, religion, gardening
and current affairs. He was a man of high
integrity, wit and much charm. Speirs was
awarded the CBE and made a Lieutenant of
the Victorian Order, the personal gift of
Prince Charles.
His wife, Susan, and their two sons survive
him.
Alasdair Steven, The Scotsman
Ten members of the Small family have
attended Glenalmond over four generations.
David William Small was the seventh member
of the family to do so.
David was born in Broughty Ferry on 9
June 1927, the elder of two boys. His father
William (OG, 1893-98) was a solicitor in the
family firm of Shiell & Small. David attended
Lathallan before coming to Glenalmond in
September 1940 and was awarded an
entrance scholarship. He worked hard and
played hard; he loved squash, tennis, golf and
shooting, studied Classics in the Sixth Form
and won a place at Cambridge. He went
straight from school into National Service as
part of the Intelligence Corps. He studied
Chinese for 18 months before being sent, not
to China, but to Egypt and then Greece. He
went up to Corpus Christi College,
Cambridge in 1948 to read Law and was
awarded a scholarship.
After graduating in 1951, David joined the
legal team of Distillers Company and was
called to the Bar in 1954. In 1955, he married
Annette Borrie, a New Zealander who he met
in London. After moving out of the legal
department, David quickly rose in Distillers to
become a Director of White Horse whisky. In
1964, he moved his wife and three young children to Toronto when he became President of
the Distillers Company of Canada. On his
return to London in 1968, he became
Managing Director of Dewar’s whisky, whose
main blending and bottling plant was near
Perth. He travelled all over the world and
under his leadership Dewar’s became the top
selling whisky in North America. David
became a main board director of Distillers
Group in 1974. In the 1980s, during lengthy
negotiations with Guinness, his counsel was
highly valued by his colleagues. He became
Overseas Operations Director for the enlarged
group before retiring in 1987.
Both David’s sons, Francis (1971-75) and
John (1972-77) followed him to Skrine’s. In
1975, David was invited to join the Council of
Glenalmond and in 1980 he became a
member of the Committee of Council.
David played a very active role in community life both before and after retirement. He
became a Borough Councillor for Elmbridge,
along with many other roles. He played golf
and tennis regularly throughout his life and
developed a great interest in family history.
David was a canny Scot, a man of sharp
intellect and high values. His passion for
his native Scotland and his deep affection
for Glenalmond remained undiminished
throughout his life. His career in the Scotch
whisky industry frequently brought him back to
Scotland and he often attended OG dinners.
Until well into their eighties, David and Annette
used to holiday each summer near the school
and they regularly attended Commem.
Annette died in June 2014. David is survived
by his three children and five grandchildren.
Francis Small
Iurii (Yuri) Lavygin
On 11 June 2015, aged 20
Skrine’s 2012-14
Yuri Lavygin came to the Lower Sixth Form at
Glenalmond in 2012,
from Irkutsk, Russia.
He was in Skrine’s,
where he quickly made
good friends with
his new housemates.
Throughout his time at
Coll, Yuri was a quiet,
humble and hardworking individual who
frequently impressed
us, both in the classroom and in sports.
Yuri was a key member of the swimming
team, where he helped break several records,
and was an inspiration to the other members of
the team. He was always eager to participate in
House sports, such as the steeplechase and
football competition. In Skrine’s, he was known
as the master of pool and table football.
Yuri was a kind young man, always keen to
mentor the members of Skrine’s in Maths and
Physics. He excelled in these subjects, not only
due to his intelligence but also because of his
hardworking attitude and passion for these
subjects. His friends and teachers were very
impressed with the ease at which he improved
his spoken English during his time at
Glenalmond.
Fellow pupils and staff were confident that
he had a bright future ahead: his enthusiasm for
mechanical and electrical engineering was sure
to set him on a successful career path. This
passion developed at a young age; he told
contemporaries about electric cars he built
when he was a little boy and the circuits he
planned to produce in the future.
When Yuri’s sudden death was announced in
June, the Skrine’s and Glenalmond ‘family’
were truly shocked and deeply saddened. His
passing has left a gap in our community but he
will remain forever in our thoughts and hearts.
Karl Frey (Skrine’s 2010-14)
Lost OGs
We try very hard to keep in touch with nearly 5,000 OGs, advising everyone of events and news from Coll and ensuring their current contact
details are maintained. Sadly, however, the whereabouts of a few individuals remain unknown to us. Listed below is a selection of names since 1934.
If you have any further information on these OGs we would be very grateful to hear from you. Thank you for your assistance.
Please contact: alumni@glenalmondcollage.co.uk or 01738 842046.
Thomas W Watson (Goodacre’s 1934-38)
James A Leitch (Skrine’s 1934-39)
Alexander M Agnew (Warden’s 1935-40)
Frederick S Higginson (Goodacre’s 1935-39)
George C Douglas (Patchell’s 1936-40)
Douglas A Farquhar (Skrine’s 1936-39)
William G Allan (Warden’s 1937-40)
William A Hendry (Patchell’s 1938-42)
Donald H McEwan (Goodacre’s 1938-42)
Donald C McIntyre (Goodacre’s 1939-42)
Ian D Murray (Patchell’s 1939-43)
Donald C Christie (Skrine’s 1940-43)
Neil H Ferguson (Matheson’s 1943-47)
Thomas M Saunders (Matheson’s 1944-48)
Ian C Burnett (Skrine’s 1945-50)
David J Dixon (Goodacre’s 1945-48)
William B Cameron (Matheson’s 1946-49)
David C Brown (Matheson’s 1946-51)
Alexander N Wright (Goodacre’s 1947-51)
Anthony R M’Millan (Goodacre’s 1949-53)
John C Douglas (Patchell’s 1949-52)
Alan P Robertson (Goodacre’s 1950-54)
Charles A Collins (Skrine’s 1950-54)
William S Thomson (Skrine’s 1951-54)
David E Denholm (Goodacre’s 1951-55)
Michael A Fellowes (Goodacre’s 1952-55)
Iain C Cairns (Skrine’s 1953-58)
Brian L Macfarlane (Goodacre’s 1954-58)
Alasdair D Brown (Matheson’s 1954-58)
D J Robert Lloyd-Evans (Patchell’s 1956-61)
Donald R Walker (Goodacre’s 1956-61)
John Beddow (Cairnies 1957-61)
A Malcolm McNab (Cairnies 1957-62)
Colin M Baxter (Goodacre’s 1958-63)
Peter A Mackenzie (Cairnies 1958-63)
J David Ross (Skrine’s 1959-64)
Gavin A Thompson (Goodacre’s 1960-65)
Neil R Macdougall (Reid’s 1961-66)
Neil A Hannah (Reid’s 1962-66)
Alastair D Ritchie (Reid’s 1962-66)
G Maskell (Reid’s 1963-68)
Roderick W Maclean (Cairnies 1964-69)
Iain A Martin (Cairnies 1965-68)
Martin C MacAulay (Reid’s 1965-69)
R Meldrum M Robertson (Matheson’s 1965-69)
C M Angus Walker-Munro (Reid’s 1967-70)
Andrew J Robertson (Reid’s 1968-72)
Neil J Wallace (Patchell’s 1968-73)
Michael S Calvert (Matheson’s 1969-74)
James W Wilson (Patchell’s 1970-74)
Alastair V Thomson (Cairnies 1971-75)
Niall MacArthur (Skrine’s 1972-76)
Michael A Wilson (Patchell’s 1972-76)
James D Fulton (Reid’s 1972-77)
Jonathan H Lill (Cairnies 1974-78)
Roderick C Wilson (Skrine’s 1974-79)
Alexander R Cruden (Goodacre’s 1975-79)
Neil Dickson (Matheson’s 1976-79)
Charles L Self (Goodacre’s 1977-81)
Jonathan R Gibb (Cairnies 1979-84)
Geoffrey Swann (Matheson’s 1980-85)
Andrew J Sutherland (Reid’s 1980-85)
Douglas Butters (Patchell’s 1981-86)
John H Shaw (Matheson’s 1981-86)
Nicholas J Kimber (Skrine’s 1982-87)
Andrew W Clarke (Cairnies 1982-87)
James B Reid (Patchell’s 1983-88)
Graeme J Wain (Skrine’s 1985-90)
Adrian H Dicker (Matheson’s 1987-92)
James W Armstrong (Goodacre’s 1987-92)
R Grenville Herrald (Cairnies 1988-92)
Niall H McConnachie (Skrine’s 1988-93)
Gregor M Bell (Cairnies 1989-91)
Simon J Jackson (Goodacre’s 1989-91)
Emily N Kinloch (Lothian 1990-92)
Lucinda C Fass (Lothian 1990-92)
Austin Dimmer (Goodacre’s 1991-93)
Nicola A Taylor (Lothian 1991-93)
Rachel Harley (Lothian 1992-94)
Anthony C Chow (Goodacre’s 1993-95)
Tita L Hahn-Godeffroy (Lothian 1993-95)
Sarah B Ng’inja (Lothian 1994-96)
F Alfie D Morawetz (Reid’s 1994-97)
David K Pang (Matheson’s 1995-99)
William S Standish (Reid’s 1995-98)
Catriona H King (Lothian 1996-98)
Eve Jackson (Lothian 1997-99)
Charles De Lacherois-Day (Matheson’s 1998-00)
Laura G Hobday (Home 2000-03)
Nils H Benkert (Reid’s 2001-03)
Morven Watt (Home 2001-06)
Holly S Marett (Home 2002-04)
Jessica Chun (Lothian 2004-06)
Alexander W Thomson (Goodacre’s 2006-09)
David F Urban (Patchell’s 2006-08)
Di Wu (Goodacre’s 2010-12)
Annis MacDonald Fitzsimmonds (Home 2010-14)
Wendai Zhu (Home 2012-13)
George Atkinson (Matheson’s 2008-13) has
been doing summer work experience on the
new Forth Bridge. George is reading Civil
Engineering at Bristol University.
Donors
The Glenalmond Council and Warden wish to thank all the donors listed below for their loyal and kind donations to the College during the
12 months from 1 August 2014 to 31 July 2015. Your on-going support is very important to the pupils and staff of Glenalmond. Thank you.
OG Donors
1920s
Malcolm H McQueen (Warden’s 1929-34)
1930s
John K Towers (Patchell’s 1933-38)
Peter S Ballantine (Skrine’s 1935-39)
Brian T Stewart (Patchell’s 1935-40)
George J Alexander (Patchell’s 1936-41)
Donald Emslie-Smith (Skrine’s 1936-40)
John Glen (Warden’s 1938-43)
Robert C Taylor (Skrine’s 1938-42)
Andrew G Forbes (Goodacre’s 1939-40)
A Graham S McCallum* (Warden’s 1939-44)
1940s
Hamish W Maxwell* (Patchell’s 1940-44)
Robert F Stephen* (Skrine’s 1940-44)
David M Alexander (Skrine’s 1942-45)
Michael M Wolfe (Patchell’s 1942-46)
Richard D Miller (Patchell’s 1943-46)
John B Stevenson (Patchell’s 1943-48)
Timothy G Osmaston (Matheson’s 1944-47)
Robert S Scott (Patchell’s 1944-49)
Charles S Cairns (Matheson’s 1945-49)
R Jack Denholm (Goodacre’s 1945-49)
John G Dudgeon (Goodacre’s 1945-48)
Derek E Findlay (Goodacre’s 1945-49)
A John R Izat (Skrine’s 1945-50)
Donald G Richardson (Patchell’s 1945-49)
C A Jeremy Macafee (Patchell’s 1946-50)
William E McKie (Matheson’s 1946-50)
Arthur R Muirhead (Patchell’s 1946-52)
Anthony G Murray (Goodacre’s 1946-50)
James M Scott (Patchell’s 1946-50)
J Antony Dick (Patchell’s 1947-52)
Graeme W Norval (Matheson’s 1947-51)
Neil M Sharp (Skrine’s 1947-52)
Robin L Wilson (Skrine’s 1947-51)
William K Begg (Patchell’s 1948-52)
William A Black (Skrine’s 1948-53)
M Paul Chappell (Skrine’s 1948-53)
Harry L Henderson (Patchell’s 1948-53)
Iain A McCrone (Matheson’s 1948-52)
Brian J Moser (Matheson’s 1948-53)
Ronald A Adam (Patchell’s 1949-54)
Thomas O Brackett (Patchell’s 1949-54)
Robert L Cormack (Goodacre’s 1949-53)
W N Fordyce (Patchell’s 1949-53)
Robert Neill (Patchell’s 1949-53)
Malcolm C Walker (Skrine’s 1949-53)
1950s
Allan A Angus (Skrine’s 1950-55)
Ion E Campbell (Goodacre’s 1950-54)
W Andrew M Clarkson (Patchell’s 1950-55)
Roderick W Corner (Matheson’s 1950-55)
Jeremy G Mackrell (Matheson’s 1950-55)
Kenneth A Prain (Patchell’s 1951-56)
John R Purvis (Patchell’s 1951-56)
C Gordon Dilworth (Goodacre’s 1952-57)
Hugh G Maund (Matheson’s 1952-57)
James R Parker* (Matheson’s 1952-57)
Andrew H Primrose (Matheson’s 1952-57)
David M Richmond (Patchell’s 1952-57)
Derek A Roberts (Goodacre’s 1952-57)
Peter W Asplin (Skrine’s 1953-58)
Christopher I Emmerson (Matheson’s 1953-58)
Timothy A Grant (Skrine’s 1953-58)
Michael G Kidd (Skrine’s 1953-58)
Ian M Macmichael (Goodacre’s 1953-58)
Colin N McEachran (Patchell’s 1953-58)
J Peter Ratzer (Skrine’s 1953-56)
Allan H Samwell (Matheson’s 1953-58)
Andrew W Sherwood (Skrine’s 1953-58)
Alasdair B Speirs (Skrine’s 1953-58)
Colin M Brown (Patchell’s 1954-59)
Frank E Gerstenberg (Patchell’s 1954-59)
David R Hill (Cairnies 1954-59)
Robert K Thomson (Goodacre’s 1954-59)
I Gordon Thorburn (Matheson’s 1954-59)
Alasdair H MacLaughlin (Skrine’s 1955-60)
Robert D Sherwood (Skrine’s 1955-60)
Robert Briggs (Skrine’s 1956-60)
W David Coughlin (Goodacre’s 1956-57)
Iain M Kennedy (Skrine’s 1956-61)
Malcolm J Moss (Matheson’s 1956-61)
Richard J Simpson (Patchell’s 1956-60)
J Allan Sturrock (Patchell’s 1956-60)
Andrew F Thomson (Patchell’s 1956-61)
Ian M Grant (Skrine’s 1957-61)
Nigel J Hill (Cairnies 1957-62)
Alan J Mackie (Goodacre’s 1957-61)
Patrick G Milne Home (Goodacre’s 1957-62)
Robert M Pattullo (Skrine’s 1957-62)
T Macalister Corry (Skrine’s 1958-63)
William K McCall (Matheson’s 1958-62)
Noel McMullan (Matheson’s 1958-63)
Michael M Phillips (Matheson’s 1958-64)
Richard R Burns (Matheson’s 1959-64)
J Alasdair M Cockburn (Patchell’s 1959-64)
Ian Dalglish (Matheson’s 1959-63)
Robert H Dickson (Cairnies 1959-63)
Peter J Macdonald (Goodacre’s 1959-64)
W Bruce Milligan (Patchell’s 1959-63)
Ian D Wilson (Cairnies 1959-64)
John N Frame (Cairnies 1960-65)
1960s
John R Logie (Matheson’s 1960-65)
Peter R Recordon (Matheson’s 1960-64)
Neil W Jenner (Reid’s 1961-65)
Richard M Keith (Goodacre’s 1961-66)
Michael J Kirkwood (Reid’s 1961-65)
Keith D Thomson (Skrine’s 1961-65)
James R Watt (Reid’s 1961-65)
Nigel B Christie (Goodacre’s 1962-66)
Derek R Emslie (Patchell’s 1962-66)
David A Fraser (Cairnies 1962-67)
Christopher I Munro (Goodacre’s 1962-67)
David G Scott (Patchell’s 1962-66)
William G Waterston (Matheson’s 1962-67)
Donald R Wilson (Goodacre’s 1962-66)
Andrew D Wilson (Cairnies 1962-66)
Douglas M Wiseman (Reid’s 1962-67)
John Macaskill (Cairnies 1963-68)
Seymour H Monro (Skrine’s 1963-68)
Graham J Scott (Matheson’s 1963-68)
R Alastair Dunlop (Patchell’s 1964-69)
William M Gordon (Matheson’s 1964-69)
David Haddow (Reid’s 1964-68)
Geoffrey R Ballantine (Cairnies 1965-70)
Douglas R Munro (Patchell’s 1965-70)
James E Oliver (Reid’s 1965-69)
Hamish P Pringle (Matheson’s 1965-69)
Robert S Robertson (Cairnies 1965-70)
H Glen H Sanderson (Cairnies 1965-70)
James S Prentice (Patchell’s 1966-70)
Michael J Walker (Goodacre’s 1966-70)
David J MacRobert (Goodacre’s 1967-72)
John D Gordon (Skrine’s 1968-73)
Charles E Jones (Patchell’s 1968-74)
Gordon A Murray (Reid’s 1968-71)
Ralph G Adams (Reid’s 1969-73)
Mark G Atkinson (Matheson’s 1969-73)
Roger S Burton (Skrine’s 1969-73)
Bruce S Montgomery (Cairnies 1969-74)
A Peter Peirse-Duncombe (Matheson’s 1969-74)
Euan C Scott (Skrine’s 1969-74)
John F Scrymgeour-Wedderburn (Skrine’s 1969-74)
1970s
H Stephen Assiter (Skrine’s 1970-75)
Rupert G Barclay (Patchell’s 1970-74)
Donors
Oliver B Ellingham (Cairnies 1970-75)
Alastair J Hope (Goodacre’s 1970-75)
Simon A Mackintosh (Cairnies 1970-74)
Robert J O’Riordan (Patchell’s 1970-75)
Anthony C Stoker (Skrine’s 1970-74)
Ebe Behnia (Reid’s 1971-77)
Niall S Booker (Patchell’s 1971-75)
Alexander S Dudgeon (Goodacre’s 1971-75)
Charles R Foster (Skrine’s 1971-75)
Alexander Robert Gray (Goodacre’s 1971-76)
Lionel Hofford (Skrine’s 1971-75)
William M Paisley (Matheson’s 1971-76)
Simon Paterson-Brown (Cairnies 1971-76)
James W Patrick (Reid’s 1971-75)
Duncan J Ramsay (Skrine’s 1971-76)
Simon J Reid-Kay (Matheson’s 1971-76)
C Lennox R Batten (Goodacre’s 1972-77)
John E Bruce (Cairnies 1972-77)
Henry V Eden (Matheson’s 1972-76)
I Douglas Elliot (Goodacre’s 1972-77)
Adam R Gillingham (Reid’s 1972-77)
John G McCulloch (Reid’s 1972-77)
Colin M Robertson (Goodacre’s 1972-77)
John E Small (Skrine’s 1972-77)
Gerald M Burnett (Goodacre’s 1973-78)
Patrick G Hannay (Goodacre’s 1973-77)
Alastair D Mathewson (Reid’s 1973-78)
Harry J Morgan (Matheson’s 1973-78)
Tom M Walker (Matheson’s 1973-78)
James R Wilson (Reid’s 1973-78)
James D Findlay (Reid’s 1974-79)
Graeme Houston (Matheson’s 1974-79)
P Alex A Mackenzie Smith (Matheson’s 1974-79)
C Jamie M Skinner (Matheson’s 1974-79)
Euan D Gorrie (Reid’s 1975-80)
Alasdair G Houston (Reid’s 1975-79)
R Michael Koch (Goodacre’s 1975-78)
Andrew A Mactaggart (Cairnies 1975-80)
Andrew W Riddick (Skrine’s 1975-78)
Patrick W Walker (Reid’s 1975-80)
John R Bushell (Patchell’s 1976-82)
Marcus H Maxwell (Patchell’s 1976-81)
John A Moodie (Skrine’s 1976-81)
Simon J Rettie (Matheson’s 1976-81)
Christopher J Rothery (Reid’s 1976-81)
Simon A Briston (Reid’s 1977-82)
E J Bruce Galloway (Cairnies 1977-82)
Roderick N Mackenzie (Patchell’s 1977-81)
John M MacLean (Matheson’s 1977-82)
Andrew A McEachern (Reid’s 1977-81)
Rupert N Morgan (Matheson’s 1977-82)
Charles R Graham-Campbell (Patchell’s 1978-83)
Fraser M Hardie (Patchell’s 1978-84)
George B Heathcote (Cairnies 1978-83)
James M Sandison (Skrine’s 1978-82)
Hugh C Shields (Reid’s 1978-82)
Jeffrey H Thomson (Patchell’s 1978-82)
Rob I Wainwright (Skrine’s 1978-83)
George C Wilson (Cairnies 1978-83)
Russell S Crighton (Skrine’s 1979-84)
R Keith Denholm (Matheson’s 1979-84)
Angus A Forsyth (Reid’s 1979-84)
C James R Nicholson (Goodacre’s 1979-83)
Brian J Gray (Cairnies 1982-87)
Duncan J Liddell (Reid’s 1982-87)
H Brian Richmond (Skrine’s 1982-87)
Robin J White (Reid’s 1982-87)
Peter E Bell (Matheson’s 1983-88)
William J Galbraith (Reid’s 1983-88)
James D Cran (Matheson’s 1984-86)
Sean Doherty (Goodacre’s 1984-89)
Edward N Gibson (Reid’s 1984-89)
David C Graham (Goodacre’s 1984-88)
A Nick Lyle (Skrine’s 1984-89)
Russell J Mackie (Skrine’s 1984-89)
James G Porter (Cairnies 1984-89)
Andrew T Richmond (Skrine’s 1984-89)
Julian C Staples (Reid’s 1984-89)
Alastair J Fitch (Patchell’s 1985-89)
Gregor Prattley (Patchell’s 1985-91)
Richard S Smith (Cairnies 1985-87)
Robin Black (Patchell’s 1986-89)
Andrew A Mickel (Matheson’s 1986-91)
Iain D Morrison (Reid’s 1986-91)
Archie J Struthers (Reid’s 1986-91)
Alastair D Valentine (Reid’s 1987-92)
Guy C Spurway (Reid’s 1988-93)
Miles W Craig (Goodacre’s 1989-94)
Paul I Dickson (Goodacre’s 1989-95)
Ranald W Macdonald Lockhart (Reid’s 1989-94)
Robert R Stein-Rostaing (Patchell’s 1989-94)
1990s
James R Gammell (Patchell’s 1990-94)
Benjamin M Conley (Goodacre’s 1991-96)
Geaspar A Byrne (Goodacre’s 1993-95)
Andrew J MacFarlane (Patchell’s 1993-98)
David A Rennie (Patchell’s 1993-98)
Roger C Hurt (Reid’s 1994-99)
Charlotte Marjoribanks (Lothian 1994-96)
Michael F Thomson (Goodacre’s 1994-99)
Sam Griffiths (Patchell’s 1995-00)
Nicola Pargeter (nee Stephen) (Lothian 1995-97)
Genny MacDonald (nee Duncan) (Home 1996-01)
Anna M Morgan (nee Sloan) (Lothian 1996-98)
Frederic B Mann (Reid’s 1998-02)
W Patrick G Norris (Goodacre’s 1998-00)
2000s
Timothy Farquharson (Patchell’s 2000-05)
James G Graham (Matheson’s 2000-05)
Tessa Wills (nee Cooke) (Lothian 2001-05)
James P Fyfe (Matheson’s 2001-06)
W Dougal Gordon (Goodacre’s 2003-08)
Douglas Weber-Steinhaus (Skrine’s 2004-06)
Andre P Phillips (Reid’s 2005-10)
Vanessa E Rettie (Lothian 2005-10)
Christopher G Dove (Skrine’s 2007-11)
James A Dove (Matheson’s 2007-13)
Finlay J MacLeod (Patchell’s 2007-12)
Rory Prichard (Skrine’s 2009-15)
2010s
Minnie Murray-Poore (Home 2010-15)
Holly Nisbet (Home 2010-15)
And our many anonymous donors
1980s
Stephen A Baird (Cairnies 1980-85)
William A Barne (Patchell’s 1980-84)
Robert K Begg (Patchell’s 1980-85)
Robert O Brewis (Patchell’s 1980-84)
Taymour M Ezzat (Cairnies 1980-85)
D J Andrew Galloway (Cairnies 1980-84)
Simon W Laird (Skrine’s 1980-85)
Diarmid Mackenzie Smith (Matheson’s 1980-85)
Adam R Bruce (Reid’s 1981-85)
Ross S Campbell (Reid’s 1981-83)
Hugh C Grierson (Reid’s 1981-86)
James C Hutchison (Reid’s 1981-86)
Lochart M Porter (Cairnies 1981-86)
David A Gordon (Patchell’s 1982-88)
* 1847 Society Legacy Gift
Other Donors
A & J Stephen
Anatom Ltd
Angela Entwistle
ArdMoor Ltd
Arthur James Paterson Charitable Trust
Bannermans
Binn Skips
Brogan Fuels
Campus Sport
Chatni Indian Restaurant
Col and Mrs C Wallace
Copperfields Hair and Beauty
Dita UK
Dr and Mrs A Pleasance
Dr and Mrs C Fleming
Dr and Mrs C Henderson
Dr and Mrs D Sozzi
Dr and Mrs G O’Neill
Dr and Mrs I Black
Dr and Mrs I Templeton
Dr and Mrs J Dent
Dr and Mrs M Kirkpartick
Dr and Mrs S Kinge
Dr J Ferguson-Smith
Dr Marianne Barry
Gilmour Sports
Glamis Castle
Gloagburn Farm Shop
Grassicks BMW
Hetties Tearoom
Ian Macleod Distillers
J Smelt and D Galbraith
Laura Smith
Major and Mrs C Wilson
Major Colin Innes
Mrs Dawn McLean
Miss Kanwal Adam
Ms Rosanna Forbes
Mr and Dr J Squire
Mr and Dr S Hamilton
Mr and Dr S Mackay-Champion
Mr and Lady C Godfrey-Faussett
Mr and Mrs A Bing
Mr and Mrs A Cross
Mr and Mrs A Dewar
Mr and Mrs A Dickson
Mr and Mrs A Espley
Mr and Mrs A Files
Mr and Mrs A Grieve
Mr and Mrs A Kirkland
Mr and Mrs A Livingston
Mr and Mrs A Ritch
Mr and Mrs A Simpson
Mr and Mrs A Simpson
Mr and Mrs A Stodart
Mr and Mrs A Thornton
Mr and Mrs C Clark
Mr and Mrs C Jaggard
Mr and Mrs C Lindemann-Berk
Mr and Mrs C Onslow
Mr and Mrs C Swift
Mr and Mrs C Youlten
Mr and Mrs D Brunton
Mr and Mrs D Davidson
Mr and Mrs D Farquharson
Mr and Mrs D Gibson
Mr and Mrs D Gillespie
Mr and Mrs D Guy
Mr and Mrs D Johnston
Mr and Mrs D Parker
Mr and Mrs D Stott
Mr and Mrs E Bruce
Mr and Mrs G Fraser
Mr and Mrs G Renouf
Mr and Mrs G Robb
Mr and Mrs G Woods
Mr and Mrs H Grossart
Mr and Mrs H Page
Mr and Mrs I Boag
Mr and Mrs I McLennan
Mr and Mrs I Sandison
Mr and Mrs J Chessor
Mr and Mrs J Fergusson
Mr and Mrs J Gillespie
Mr and Mrs J Harper
Mr and Mrs J Headon
Mr and Mrs J Landale
Mr and Mrs J Mackintosh
Mr and Mrs J Maclean

Pages 59-113 - Glenalmond College

Transcription

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